Ohio State wrestler Sammy Sasso feels 'lucky' as he recovers from August shooting
The victim of a shooting during an August carjacking, Ohio State wrestler Sammy Sasso still considers himself fortunate.
He is not currently competing for the Buckeyes, but Sasso said he’s “lucky to be recovering at the rate that I am,” which has enabled him to return to the practice mats just five months later.
“Things could have been a lot worse for me,” Sasso said.
Sasso was entering the 2023-24 season as a four-time All-American, a two-time Big Ten champion and a four-time NCAA tournament qualifier before he was shot. This is the standard he expects to reach again despite having four screws and two rods in his back and significant nerve damage in his left leg.
“If I’m not competing at the level that I was before, then I won’t come back,” Sasso said. “I had a great career. I never lost a Big Ten dual meet. I wouldn’t come back at (a) less version of myself and tarnish my record or just what I’ve done in the sport. If I’m not competing at what I was or better, then it’s not happening.”
Ohio State wrestler Sammy Sasso at '60%' recovery
Two teens attempted to steal Sasso's vehicle on the 1300 block of North High Street and East 7th Avenue on Aug. 18. According to his family’s GoFundMe page, Sasso was shot in the abdomen and underwent emergency surgery to reconstruct his colon. A second surgery was needed to remove the bullet, which was lodged near Sasso's spine and, Sasso said, a "centimeter" away from leaving him paralyzed.
“Crazy things happen, but you’re just happy to be alive once you wake up,” he added. “It was tough, though. I’m not going to sit here and act like the time at the hospital was easy. Things were tough, but at the end of the day, I was still breathing. I was still happy.”
Sasso is hoping that in six to eight months, the deficit in his left leg will begin to go away. He said progress has already been apparent, considering he “had to go back to learning how to walk again” immediately after the shooting.
According to Ohio State wrestling coach Tom Ryan, Sasso is “60%” of the wrestler he once was, which is a remarkable achievement.
“I know that he told the surgeon that ‘If I’m going to wrestle on one leg, I’m wrestling again,’ ” Ryan said. “There’s a determination there that nothing will get in the way of.”
Sasso is not enrolled in classes at Ohio State, but he remains in Ohio State’s wrestling room and is encouraging teammates to, as he puts it, “cut loose, wrestle free.”
“We’re seeing him transform,” Ryan said. “As much as he was a leader, he’s been able to really take a step back and find even deeper gratitude for what he does have. It’s been pretty amazing getting to see him refine himself.”
Nicholas Boykin, a redshirt senior, said Sasso has given his team a “reason to wrestle” in the 2023-24 season.
“I mean, we lost our team captain,” Boykin said. “And a lot of the guys, we’ve come together. The night it happened, a bunch of us got together, basically said our prayers. And now we’re seeing him on the mat. It’s made us closer.”
Sammy Sasso puts wrestling return in perspective
In addition to bringing the team together, the shooting has given Sasso some perspective.
“What I went through was a lot harder than wrestling live in the room,” Sasso said. “What you thought was hard before, you go through something like that, it’s not so hard anymore.”
While Sasso said wrestling gives him something to look forward to, he admits he is "still a ways away" from where he needs to be in order to compete again.
And for Sasso, that is OK.
“I had a great career,” Sasso said. “So if God’s got it in the plan for me that I’m not going to wrestle again, I’m OK with that.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OSU wrestling: Sammy Sasso feels 'lucky' as he recovers from shooting
