Setbacks are nothing new for Libertyville junior Pierce Adams in his brief wrestling career.
Adams, who had aspirations of becoming a star basketball player for several years, shifted toward wrestling in eighth grade. But multiple injuries have limited his progress.
“People on the team make jokes about me whenever something happens to me that I can’t stay healthy,” Adams said. “I really like wrestling. I finally found a sport that I’m good at, but I can’t stay healthy. It’s been frustrating.”
Adams, who has a 3-2 record at 157 pounds in his first varsity season, seems to be rounding into shape after missing several months with knee bursitis. He has a ton of potential, according to Libertyville coach Dale Eggert.
“Being a starter all year will gain him a lot of success,” Eggert said. “He will never be out of a match. His conditioning is so good, and he’s so intense.
“I love the way he trains. He gets to work. He runs guys to the ground with his gas tank.”
But even with a strong work ethic, Adams has been slowed by injuries. During his freshman season, he suffered a labrum tear in his left shoulder and an initial rupture of the prepatellar bursa sac in his right knee. The following summer, before his sophomore season, Adams experienced chronic bursitis and suffered a dislocated finger too.
“It was a lot of stopping and starting,” he said. “I had so many and was out for two months, so I was out of shape.”
Bursitis continued to be an issue during Adams’ sophomore season, and more problems with the finger injury sidelined him for another month. He then developed cellulitis in his right knee in March, which led to surgery.
Adams’ recovery took longer than expected, according to his mother, Becky Sawle. He was reevaluated every four weeks, and nearly six months passed.
“He was doing a ton of physical therapy, and everything was going right, but he kept getting swelling,” Sawle said. “He’s my easy kid. He puts in the work — goes to the gym faithfully before school, sometimes six or seven days a week. He’s trying and trying to get better.
“Seeing him in pain, that’s when it hit me. We went to the doctor, and he burst into tears.”
Sawle said the experience took a toll on Adams.
“He was a perfectly good wrestler who now wants to quit the sport he loves,” Sawle said. “He finally found something he’s good at. Some people have the golden touch and never get injured. He had to struggle through so many hardships. He was so discouraged and frustrated. He even thought about trying boxing.
“We almost threw the whole thing away. We did have the talk, like, ‘If you don’t want to do it again, that it’s OK,’ in September. It was really hard.”
Just as Adams started to see some improvement in his knee, he hit another roadblock. One week before this season started, he suffered a sprained ankle, which is still bothering him.
But Adams, who was eliminated from Barrington’s Moore-Prettyman Invitational on the first day of competition last week, is moving forward.
“I got hammered at Barrington,” he said. “I still need to work on some things. I’m looking forward to the season, wherever it takes me and whatever happens.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter.
