In wrestling, there’s always a high risk of getting injured. Senior Savanna Barroso found herself with knee injuries twice. The first time was right before the season started at practice while doing some money rolls.

Money rolls help with conditioning the neutral position, and it’s when someone is rolling and the other jumps over them. The neutral position is the starting position of a match, and it’s also Barroso’s favorite position.

“The second time it happened was during the season, and I was tired of it, I was like ‘okay, I’m just gonna quit if this is going to keep happening,’” Barroso said. “But then, after I was able to move it around and wrestle. I just kept going.”

Some of the most common injuries are dislocated elbows, broken bones, head concussion, sprain ankles and ringworm. The chart here illustrates the most common injuries for wrestlers. 

• Ringworm is spread by skin-to-skin contact or by touching an infected animal or object. 
• Sprained ankles occur when the ankle rolls, twists, or turns in an awkward way. 
• Dislocated elbows occur when the bones that make up the joint are forced out of alignment. 
• Broken are caused after an accident like a fall or being hit by an object
• Concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. 

Despite the pain of competition, the boys wrestling team became the district champions.

Photo illustration by April Garcia and Austin Medina.