Ramona’s Jordison gets OK to return to wrestling after rehab from UCL injury

Braden Jordison had a pretty good idea what the outcome would be when he walked into his doctor’s office a week ago.

Still, you never know.

The Ramona High junior had suffered an Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) injury the first play on the first day of football practice and after undergoing Tommy John surgery, a procedure normally associated with baseball pitchers, he would either get the green light to be able to wrestle or the red light and continue working to be ready for football.

“I had an idea just based on how the doctor was talking about it the last time we met,” said Jordison, “so I was optimistic. When he said I was good to go, I just thought to myself ‘sweet’ and I smiled.

“I was up late the night before thinking about it. I really love wrestling and the good thing about the doctor is he was a wrestler and played football, so he understood.

“Now I can get back to practice before competing. We have some dual meets and I’m really looking forward to wrestling at Holtville (the Rotary Tournament) at the end of the month before the playoffs.”

Naturally, he, his parents (Michael and Kathleen), and coach Tyler McKay will be watching carefully, making sure not to rush things thereby taking a chance of reinjuring his arm.

Interestingly, the only remnant of the arm injury, according to Jordison, is he can’t yet get full extension.

Not really a problem.

“Wrestling isn’t like football and we always tell our wrestlers to keep their elbows in at their sides, not to overextend, so actually it works out well,” McKay said. “We’re planning on taking it slow, getting him in a couple of matches before going to Holtville where he could get four or five more.

“He’s a team leader and he hasn’t missed a practice or a meet — not to mention he’s a returning CIF placer (fourth in the heavyweight division) — so it’s good for everyone to see how he worked so hard and now he’s back.”

Still…

“Obviously, we’ll pay special attention to him, but we won’t baby him. If it seems like there’s any chance he might reinjure it, I’ll make the decision to pull him out. Everyone wants him to be 100 percent for next year.

“I know if you leave it up to Braden, he’d go out crawling before he’d quit, so sometimes you have to make the tough calls to save them from themselves. I’m no doctor, but if the doctor says he’s good to go, we’ll go, but we’ll do it carefully.”

Jordison was fourth in the Division 3 championships a year ago, qualifying for the Master’s Meet wrestling as a heavyweight where he gave up anywhere from 20 to 75 pounds a match. When he returns to the mat, it’ll be at 217, which will require him to shed a few pounds.

“He can lose a little of that football weight he put on — eating two plates of food at dinner instead of four — so that shouldn’t be a problem,” said the veteran coach. “He’ll be at the top of his weight class for the Division 3 meet and if all goes well, he should make the Masters meet.

“He’s an athlete, and like so many 14, 15, 16, 17-year-olds, he recovered faster than anyone expected.”

Jordison has been practicing but everything was slowed down while he was recovering. And no contact. Now he anticipates going full-speed.

“Subconsciously, I think I might baby my arm a little bit, and I’m going to wear a brace, but I’m not going to jump right into anything,” he said. “I’m going to do lots and lots of running to get into shape. But I’ll be cautious, too.

“I just need to get myself to trust my arm and make sure I don’t get slammed.”