With a recently healed elbow, wrestler Mike Harder is back on the mat and back in the winner’s circle for the wrestling team. After his accomplishment as a 2008 state qualifier as a freshman, Harder was sidelined last year for his sophomore season because of a torn ligament in his elbow.
During a practice in November 2008, Harder wrestled Whitman alum and former state champion Will Sharbaugh (’07), who now wrestles for Maryland. Sharbaugh tried to do a move called a merkle, chopping at Harder’s elbow and rolling into it while Harder had his hand posted on the mat. Unfortunately, Harder’s elbow hyper-extended and pushed inwards.
“I heard a loud snapping sound and it hurt a ton,” Harder says. “I think I was in shock because I don’t remember what I was feeling except pain.”
After Harder had an MRI, the doctor told him his medial collateral ligament, which helps move the arm left to right from the elbow joint, was almost torn off the bone.
Harder wore a cast for six weeks, and was unable to compete. Still, he continued to attend practice and work out with his functional limbs. After his cast came off, he wore a brace for more than two months that didn’t permit any side-to-side motion, but allowed him to adjust the position and angle he could move his arm up and down. He continued to practice and lift, and once his brace came off he was only able to doarm curls with his shoe in his hand. It took months of hard work for Harder to regain his full arm strength because his ligaments were so weak from atrophy.
“Lifting more than [my shoe] after four months of lifting nothing on that arm would have hurt it,” Harder says. “It wasn’t that hard, it was just all my arm could do.”
To supplement these workouts, Harder joined the Eagle Hawk Academy run by Wade Schalles. According to Harder, Schalles is one of the best wrestlers of all time with over 100 pins, NCAA championships, and competing in the Olympics under his belts.
A month and a half after the brace came off, Harder participated in and won off-season tournaments, though he was still wearing an elbow pad.
Though many athletes who suffer from such a severe injury may be hesitant to return, Harder says his fear is not evident when he is wrestling.
“My elbow is strong enough and sturdy enough to go full force,” he says. “I don’t worry about it when I’m practicing because getting hurt is always a factor, but it won’t slow me down.”
Harder’s work ethic shows his drive to improve this season. After missing an entire year and not being able to participate in the state championships, he is motivated to make up for lost time. He credits some of his motivation to his teammates and brother, who have been incredibly supportive.
“I see them working hard, and know that I need to match them and make them work harder,” he says, “because in the wrestling room, that’s how you get better: you push each other. I don’t just wrestle for myself, I wrestle for my team.”