Trainer

As I've said in a previous post, one instance that I, as an athletic trainer, would not let a wrestler continue would be if there were some neurological issues involved with the shoulder injury. According to the IndyStar, Willis did complain of his hand going numb, and as a health professional you have to believe him. Many times this will not resolve in a minute and a half, but will do so in less than 4 or 5 hours (however long it was before he wrestled again). Each injury differs from the others (Colt McCoy's nerve injury is still healing I believe), so we have to make decisions based upon the individual and not on generalizations. I am, however, a little surprised he wasn't favoring it more during the finals. I'm sure he wasn't 100%, but he did look pretty good. As long as his strength and special tests looked good between matches, I certainly would have let him wrestle that night. Also, the Dr. would have had the time to discuss the situation with his parents in between matches. He probably warned them of any potential issues going forward, but obviously couldn't do that during injury time after his injury. These are some of the things that would have happened from a medical point of view at the high school level.

I'm pretty sure he's never been penalized for this move before--I've seen him throw it and it was stopped for being potentially dangerous is all

From an athletic training standpoint, the kid probably dislocated it before or didn't have any of the problems as mentioned in the previous posts. If he's "stable" and has good strength with a history of dislocating, it would be much different than doing it for the first time with persisting symptoms, which is presumably what Willis was experiencing.

I am an athletic trainer and I wrestled in high school and before for many years. I've seen Vlahos throw that move many times in competition and have never seen him penalized for it. I have seen it called potentially dangerous when he threw it once, which it should be. The big problem I see is that he's never been penalized for it before in high school (that I'm aware of), so he probably didn't think he would be penalized for throwing it again. If he kept the move and used it after he was warned by the official, then he should be penalized. I think it happened too fast for that sequence to ensue. From a fan standpoint, I immediately turned to the person I was sitting next to and said "Willis better not wrestle tonight if he can't finish this match now--the crowd will go crazy if he does and to many it will look very cowardly". Even though he presumably had an acutely subluxed shoulder (where it pops out and comes right back in), he could have wrestled (in my mind) if the following conditions were met. 1)it's happened before and it's been "controlled" 2)he has no acute symptoms such as tingling, numbness, etc (don't want any nerve damage or other issues). I've let some wrestle even if they've got some fairly considerable pain as long as they have the strength to protect themselves, which was probably checked on the mat. I'm pretty sure he didn't have any imaging done between matches! You'll notice they stuck him in a stabilizing brace for the finals. Even though these help, it certainly doesn't guarantee anything (i've seen them sublux again with these on). I personally don't think the addition of this would sway a Dr. too much in allowing him to wrestle in the finals, but not finish his match with Vlahos. He must have initially displayed considerable pain (which of course is subjective and what many fans are questioning), weakness (which can be tested), and/or other symptoms indicating something more severe. I don't even know if this was his diagnosis for sure, but it's what I heard circulating about after the match. The brace can be used for other problems, too. All of these things have to be evaluated and a decision made in a minute and a half! If it's never happened to the kid before, sometimes it seems a little worse at first than what it really is. That being said, the shoulder usually feels worse a few hours later than it did right away (if it's his first time). I personally would have told the kid and his coaches after the match that if it's this bad now, it's probably not going to feel much better for the finals (without knowing his history). It certainly didn't look too bad to me in the finals...but there are also so many variables to consider. I'd say about 90% of the time the coaches will look to the medical professional on hand for their recommendations concerning whether or not the athlete should continue. It looked to me like they consulted the athletic trainer, but I've seen many coaches force their hands on this issue. Hopefully, it was a decision made by careful, professional judgment made between the coaches, medical professionals, and athlete combined. Certainly a difficult, but rightly questionable decision was made in this match.