Injury ends D-Pom’s quest for his third state championship
by Angie Asam, Staff Writer
Little did anyone know during the finals match at the Gaylord Northern Michigan Championships on Jan. 29 that Devin Pommerenke would be wrestling his last match in a Rogers City Huron singlet. However, as D-pom himself will say, everything happens for a reason. In that match Pommerenke locked for a cradle when his opponent tried to stand up, as he has done many times in his career. He then went to sweep out his opponents leg with his right leg when his right knee gave out. He worked through it, even though he said it felt like he was dragging a cannon ball with his leg to get the pin, and the win before heading to the training room.
The diagnosis at the time was something with the meniscus, and he was advised to get it looked at on Monday. Last Tuesday he headed to Ann Arbor to the University of Michigan hospital to have it looked at by the same doctor that has done surgery on two other Huron wrestlers, Greg Tulgestke and Blaise Ryan. It was then that Devin found out his high school career would be over as he damaged his posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and tore his lateral collateral ligament. He went into surgery Tuesday morning to have the damage cleaned up. In 6-8 weeks he will have another surgery to have a cadaver tendon put in place and begin his rehab.
?Maybe this is God cutting me down to build me back up. I can?t see why a freak accident happens for anything other than a good reason. Maybe I don?t see it now. This knee has to last me the rest of my life. Hopefully someday I can be a coach, I can play baseball with my kids in my back yard and I can depend on this leg for a long time,? said Devin. ?IF EVERYTHING goes perfectly, I should be back on the mat mid-January of next year,? said Pommererenke, who has a full scholarship to Central Michigan University (CMU) to wrestle. ?I am glad that the injury is what it is, there is no meniscus or ACL damage so I will be able to make a comeback and be 100 percent when I do come back.? CMU coach Tom Borrelli was bummed to hear the news, bummed for Devin, but was glad to hear that he would be able to make a full recovery and be able to wrestle for the Chippewa?s in the future.
A bum knee and crutches haven?t kept D-pom totally off the mats as he is still going to practice every day to help his teammates. ?The biggest thing I have been losing sleep over is not the pain of the injury; it?s the pain of what kind of situation I left my team in. It?s not my fault, I had no control over it realistically; but I still hope and pray and am here for my team because I want them to have the same insight and the same goal we?ve had all season,? said Devin.
It hasn?t really totally sunk in to Devin that his career as a Rogers City Huron is over, but he definitely does not like the situation of not being able to be on the mat as the Hurons prepare for districts, regionals and state. ?I believe in them. I am just one man on a 14-man squad. I wish I could be there on the mat to set the tone and do what I do to try to get my team points. I guess I will just have to sit on the bench and run my mouth with positive encouragement,? Pommerenke said.
DEVIN?S CAREER ended with a record of 210-11, winning 157 consecutive matches as he has not lost since the state tournament his freshman year. He is second all-time in wins, finishing just 10 behind Dylan Centala. ?Not being able to get a third state title definitely sucks, missing the records, that?s not going to kill me. I just have to settle for what I have and be thankful that I changed the sport the way I did. I don?t really care if people remember me or not, that?s not what I was doing it for. I was doing it for my team, records fade and they are only made to be broken,? said Pommerenke.
Devin has left his name in the record books as he has the record for most team points in a season (423), most season pins (47), most career pins (155), the fastest pin (3 seconds), consecutive pins, consecutive wins (157), the best season record (59-0) and the most freshman wins (53). Not only was he on the verge of becoming the Rogers City wrestler with the most wins in a career but also the most team points, as he finished just 34 behind Dylan Centalas record (1482).
WITH THE postseason beginning for the Hurons team, as they were at team districts Wednesday (after press time), Pommerenke still has high expectations for his team and the program. ?I bought a treasure chest and the gold coins came with it; the treasure chest being the team and the sport itself. It is a burning fire that will never be extinguished in me. I am forever a Huron; if you cut me open I will bleed orange and black.? It?s not about his accomplishments. He has set high expectations for himself; but all the while the team was his number one goal, the Rogers City Wrestling family.
?I?d like to thank everybody in the community, all my teammates past and present, all the captains I have had, all my coaches, the parents and families that come out to watch the sport. There is too many to name, I would be here for hours. A lot of people have been there to support me, to see what I could do. They are the cylinder that drives me. I wouldn?t trade what I have for the world, to grow up here and wrestle for this school and do what I have done. I wouldn?t have done it for any other community. My career is over, I have to live with that, but I am satisfied,? said Devin.