The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lake wrestler is already a champion
ALLIANCE » Tears welled up in the eyes of Dorian Gridiron as an ice pack was strapped to his elbow off to the side of the mat at Alliance High School on March 2.
The tears weren’t because of the pain in his left elbow, but rather tears of gratitude.
Lake Catholic’s 182-pound senior had just qualified for the Division II state wrestling tournament via a 6-2 decision over Tallmadge’s Nate Amato.
It’s a victory few — maybe not even Gridiron himself — envisioned, seeing that fewer than three years ago, Gridiron was face-down in the water in the shallows of the Grand River after a 110-foot fall off a cliff.
The tears Gridiron shed March 2 weren’t only because of his victory over Amato, but maybe moreso because of his victory over his odds of ever wrestling again.
“It’s more than gratifying,” Gridiron said, his father James’ arm draped over his shoulder as the two soaked in the special moment. “Being off for 2 1/2 years and being able to do this? Putting in all that hard work and now I’m coming out and going to state? Not a lot of people thought I could do that. How many people do you know do this? Not a lot.”
A few weeks back, Gridiron made his first visit back to the Concord Township hollow where the near-fatal fall occurred on July 18, 2016.
As he and his father walked down the river’s edge on the chilly winter afternoon, memories of that day raced back to the 18-year-old’s mind. The kayaking with his brother Adrian Salas, the hiking along the top of the ridge, losing his footing and sliding down the bank toward to cliff’s edge...
That’s where the memories end.
He doesn’t remember the fall into the river. He doesn’t remember Adrian — who also fell 110-feet — finding him facedown in the water, dragging him to the bank and running for help. He has no recollection of his brother dragging him upstream and up a trail in a kayak to a waiting rescue squad.
When he got to the site of the accident, for the first time he glanced up at the cliff from which he fell and got chills.
“I’m lucky to be alive,” Gridiron said two weeks ago at the Division II district wrestling tournament his school was hosting.
For nearly three years, Gridiron — having already staved off death — recovered from the compound fracture of his left arm, allowed his broken ribs to heal, adapted from his ruptured spleen and battled through the agonizing headaches and concussion symptoms from the brain bleed he sustained in the fall.
That he didn’t break his neck, his back or have a broken rib puncture his heart — any of which would have killed him — amazes him.
“I’m so lucky,” Gridiron said.
Many, if not most, would have written off ever playing sports again. The few who would have survived that fall would not be blamed if they just went in a different direction and let go of their dreams to play sports.
Dorian Gridiron isn’t built that way.
He fought to gain back eye-hand coordination that was nowhere near as fast as it was prior to the fall. He battled through the frustration in the classroom when his recall of information wasn’t as quick as it had been. He lifted weights and worked out to rediscover muscle that had been lost due to inactivity.
And he remembered where this journey of rediscovery started.
“Every day,” Gridiron said. “I’m just lucky to be here. I’m even more blessed to be able to wrestle. Being down and coming back up? It’s awesome.”
After losing his semifinal match at district to Coventry’s Austin Hinzman, Gridiron knew his tournament life - and the dream of wrestling in the state tournament, a dream that motivated him through his recovery process — was on the line. As he headed to the center circle for an all-ornothing consolation semifinal against Amato, he did so with the entire Lake Catholic program — its wrestlers, its parents, its fan base — either matside or draped over the edge of the railing high above the mat surface.
His father James was smack-dab behind the coaching corner, shouting encouragement and contorting his body with every move his son made in the match as if he himself were wrestling.
“My shirt is soaking wet,” James would later say, admitting his actions during the match were a workout. “I was nervous. I was (shadow) wrestling. I felt like I was on the mat with him. I feel like I just ran 100 miles.”
When the final seconds ticked off in the 6-2 win, which clinched a state berth, the crowd erupted like it was a state championship match.
There were smiles, there were hugs, and there were tears.
Gridiron gushed over the accomplishments of his teammates, a group of eight, who qualified for the Division II state tournament. He chronicled how proud he was of his friends for what he termed an “amazing” consolation semifinal round in which seven of the eight Cougars who wrestled for their tournament life won.
But no one faced — and beat — odds like Gridiron did.
On July 18, 2016, he was face-down in the Grand River after a 110-foot fall, had broken bones, a ruptured spleen and a bleeding brain.
As gratifying as his win over Amato was, the biggest triumph of his life wasn’t that state-clinching victory - it was making it out of the Grand River basin alive.
Whatever happens this weekend in Columbus is sprinkles on top of the icing on the cake.
Dorian Gridiron is already a champion.