A wave of excitement abruptly turned to severe concern at Thursday night’s Oak Harbor-Monroe wrestling meet.

After battling back from a 21-0 deficit to tie the score 24-24, things appeared to be on the upswing for the Wildcats.

That all changed in an instant.

With Chris Wichers, one of Oak Harbor’s top senior wrestlers on the mat, the unexpected happened.

Leading Philip Jacobsen 4-2 with 49 seconds left in the second round, Wichers started to fall backward. In an attempt to post his right arm and spin off his opponent, Wicher’s arm bent in the wrong direction underneath his own weight and Jacobsen’s, causing a dislocation of the right elbow.

“He just happened to post wrong and that stuff happens,” OHHS head coach Brian Farmer said.

With Wichers writhing in pain, the match was immediately called to a halt.

“I’ve seen dislocated elbows before…, Farmer said. “It’s an awesome sport and sometimes there are accidents.”

With absolute silence from the crowd, Wichers was surrounded by coaches, teammates and concerned parents. He laid on the mat for a half hour before paramedics were able to take him to Whidbey General Hospital.

According to Farmer on Friday morning, Wichers was diagnosed with a dislocated elbow and was released from the hospital.

There is no telling now, but the injury could result in the end of Wichers’ OHHS wrestling career. He will have to see a specialist next week to find out his fate.

Farmer, however, remained optimistic.

“If there’s anybody that could come back, he (Wichers) could,” Farmer said. “He’s as tough as they come.”

Prior to Thursday’s injury Wichers had just earned a number five ranking in the state at 140 pounds. His record was at 16-0 and he was going for the Oak Harbor High School career pin record. In his 16 wins this season, he had 12 pins, which put him at 56 for his OHHS career. The mark was just seven shy of the 63 from Adam Sampson during the 1993-96 seasons.

Just one day before his injury Wichers spoke of what it would be like to get the school record for pins.

“I think it would be cool to have my name up there on the board because I have it for cross country too,” he said. “It would be nice to have it for two sports.”

Although the career pin record was high on his list of things to do, Wichers had even higher aspirations for his final year of high school wrestling.

“This year I want to be a state champion,” he said.

In order for him to live out that dream he will have to heal before Jan. 28 when the WesCo North divisional tournament begins.

“It’s hard to say just what will happen, but we’ll have to get things going and figure it out,” Farmer said.