The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Wrestling: Otterbein wrestler Joey Tromba of Painesville Township diagnosed with cancer.
Painesville Township native, VASJ grad battling Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma
It was a text message Otterbein wrestling coach Brent Rastetter will never forget.
It arrived on Jan. 9 from the first wrestler Rastetter, now in his third year at the college, recruited to the Division III school near Columbus.
It was written by his redshirt sophomore Joey Tromba, a graduate of Villa Angela-St. Joseph from Painesville Township.
It was an update on the status of Tromba’s shoulder, which was surgically repaired a year ago but had flared up during the first half of Otterbein’s schedule this season. The latter part of the text devastated Rastetter.
“He wrote ‘… Coach, I also have cancer,” said Rastetter. “Typical Joey reaction. He never complains about anything.”
Rastetter is a cancer survivor. When the 45-year-old coach was 29, he diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. But to hear the news his 21-year-old redshirt sophomore was dealt news of having Non-Hodgkin’s was devastating.
“I’m heartbroken that Joey and his family have to go through this,” said Rastetter. “This kid has not had it easy.”
Shoulder and knee injuries the last five years have made things difficult for Tromba as an athlete but the challenge ahead battling Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma is a different level.
“This poor kid can’t catch a break,” said VASJ wrestling coach Bob Mullins after visiting Tromba at the Cleveland Clinic on Jan. 17. “He’s been dealt some pretty lousy stuff. But he keeps he plugging. Nothing will keep him down. He’s a fighter all the way.”
Tromba hasn’t had luck staying healthy since he was a VASJ junior and qualified for the state tournament in Columbus. Since then, he’s suffered with an assortment of shoulder and knee injuries.
He first injured his shoulder as a VASJ sophomore against Willoughby South. The injury never completely healed. Then as a high school senior, he intended to play football for the Vikings. But on the first day of August camp, he suffered an ACL knee injury, which also forced him to miss the wrestling season.
As he prepared for his freshman season at Otterbein, a freak accident while working a camp resulted in another ACL knee injury. It forced him to redshirt.
When he did return to the mat in 2017-18, his old shoulder injury re-surfaced. Then it flared up again this season.
Many coaches might have turned their back to a recruit with that type of medical history, but Rastetter doesn’t regret adding Tromba to his program.
“You just don’t expect it to happen to you when you’re 21. You’re scared. And watching your family go through this is rough, especially my parents. But I know there are other people going through way worse than I am right now.” — Joey Tromba
“It was his demeanor, his outlook, his perspective,” said Rastetter. “He’s mature beyond his years. He was the type of person what I wanted to build the program around. I knew he was one of those type of kids we wanted in that first recruiting class.”
While home on holiday break, Tromba underwent tests on his ailing shoulder. Two days after that visit, Tromba complained to his parents Joe and Julie he was having chest pains. Tromba was set to return to Otterbein for the start of the school’s second semester, but before leaving another visit to the doctor and a biopsy test were in the offing.
That following Monday, he returned to Otterbein. His mother called.
“She was like, ‘You need to come home right now,’ “said Tromba, who upon his return was immediately checked into the Cleveland Clinic to begin treatment.
Tromba, a 165-pound wrestler for Otterbein,
“I’ve been trying to respond to everyone’s messages, the responses from so many people ... it helps when they really don’t have to do that.” Otterbein wrestler Joey Tromba
has always had the knack to perform through pain. Then this ...
“You just don’t expect it to happen to you when you’re 21,” said Tromba shortly after receiving a treatment session at the Clinic on Jan. 17. “You’re scared. And watching your family go through this is rough, especially my parents. But I know there are other people going through way worse than I am right now.”
That being said, Mullins said his former wrestler did have a rare type of “why me?” moment after his visit.
“He was like, ‘Gosh coach, I would have settled for just Hodgkins,’ “said Mullins.
Hodgkins is less aggressive form of cancer compared to Non-Hodgkins. Each are a type of cancer that begins in a subset of white blood cells called lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are an integral part of a person’s immune system.
Tromba had surgery this week to implant a catheter for chemotherapy treatments. On Jan. 17, he had a spinal injection as part of his treatment.
“The scariest part for me is the unknown, but my doctors are very hopeful,” said Tromba, who’s expected to stay at the Clinic for treatment through January.
The support he’s received from the VASJ and Otterbein communities and his hometown have been enormous for Tromba remaining positive.
“I’ve been trying to respond to everyone’s messages,” said Tromba. “The responses from so many people ... it helps when they really don’t have to do that.”
The biggest boost might have been when his best friend on Otterbein’s wrestling team, teammate Corbin Bunsold, stopped by his hospital room after the visiting Cardinals’ competed against John Carroll in a dual meet Jan. 15.
“He didn’t have to do that, but it was awesome to see him,” said Tromba. “That really helped take my mind off things.”
Tromba won’t attend classes this semester at Otterbein, but plans to return in the fall. He’s an engineering major, and wants to be a mechanical engineer one day. Tromba said his wrestling days are likely over, but Rastetter has plans to keep Tromba involved with the program.
“I’d love to add him onto the coaching staff,” said Rastetter, who’s helping produce “JoeyStrong” bracelets for Otterbein students. “What he could provide would be pretty amazing. I hope he takes an interest in that.”
Tromba said his cancer treatments will continue for the next six months, but is hopeful to return to Otterbein soon to visit teammates, coaches and friends, and perhaps see a wrestling match. In the meantime, he will continue to fight.
Said Tromba: “I feel like I’ve faced the worst of it already.”