On October 20, 2024 at the Matt Town Classic, Nico Kapusta thought everything that he has worked for in his junior season would come to an end due to an debilitating injury this year. His UCL was torn which means a ligament detached from the inside of the elbow along with his RCL that supports the outer part of the elbow on top of a partially torn bicep. Little did he know his recovery process would be speedy and before he knew it, he would be on a mat again.
After his injury, Kapusta concentrated on getting his arm fully healed, helping his teammates as much a possible, and still trying to learn while being out on injury reserve. “Why not you” is a phrase that Kapusta routinely thinks about. According to Kapusta, his father tells him this before every match, motivating him even more to win.
When completing in his sophomore season, his goals were to win the WPIAL and state title. After returning from his injury this junior season, he started off with a strong 9-7 section win against Penn Trafford’s Dylan Barrett. After many matches, Kapusta once again met Barrett in the finals to come out with a strong win 13-12 in a very competitive match. Here he won the WPIAL 114-pound Title.
On March 1st, he went onto the 3A West Regional Championships where he had a very close match against freshman Mateo Gallegos from Dubois High School. He came out on top for the 114-pound weight class and qualified for the for PIAA State Championship!
Despite Kapusta thinking he wouldn’t be able to wrestle his junior year, he made it to the PIAA Wrestling Tournament in Hershey PA. There he won his first two matches before losing two very competitive matches, which eliminated him from the tournament. In a trying season he earned the County, WPIAL, and Regional Titles and performed commendably at the PIAA State Tournament.
Against all odds, he truly did succeed.