From the Santa Cruz (California) Sentinel
December 24, 2004
Reversal of fortune: Soquel athlete overcame five surgeries to make wrestling team as a senior
By BOB LINNEMAN
sentinel staff writer
It’s taken several years, and several operations, but Craig Musich is finally a member of a high school sports team.
The 17-year-old Soquel High senior is a wrestler for the rebuilding Knights. For Musich, who never wrestled before, just being able to compete again is a gift ” one he patiently and courageously waited to receive.
Since seventh grade, Musich has had major surgery five times, most on his feet, including an operation on his left foot to remove a tumor.
“It really kicked the crap out of him, “said Dr. Warren Scott, a sports medicine specialist in Soquel who has treated Musich since the teen-ager was a student at Shoreline Middle School. “He’s had to work hard. But he’s shown great determination, a keep-the-faith kind of thing.”
A spirit and drive to be an athlete again served Musich well as he recovered from operation after operation during the past five years.
A standout in youth sports, Musich watched from the sidelines as his friends and former teammates played football and baseball at Soquel.
“Even after his surgeries he’d still be out with us doing most everything he wanted, “said long-time friend and fellow Soquel senior Matt Dixon. “He was always at our games. He’d say to me, ‘I wish I could play football.’ But now it’s great, he’s wrestling. It’s something he really likes to do.”
In his thirst for competition, Musich also started racing motorcycles, something his father has done for years. But Musich suffered a serious crash April 4 at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds ” two days before his 17th birthday. He broke bones in his hip, pelvis and elbow.
Musich said he hit one jump with too much speed and smashed into the upward slope of the following jump. “I cased … endoed, “he said, using the motocross vernacular. “It knocked me out for a few seconds.”
But as he has done after every medical setback, he hopped right over the barrier and charged forward.
“He never felt sorry for himself, “Dixon said. “And he didn’t have an attitude where I needed to feel sorry him. He’s tough about it all.”
Today, there is little evidence of Musich’s injury-riddled past. There’s no limp, no pain, no awkward gait. His foot has recovered so nicely he’s able to wrestle without fear ” and this is a sport which relies heavily on leverage and footwork. He’s wrestled only two matches so far, winning one.
Dr. Scott said it was rewarding when he saw Musich run at the Soquel track earlier this year, showing no evidence of injury. “There was no hitch in his gait, he looked great, “Scott said. “It was exciting to see him there.”
It’s been exciting for those close to Musich, who watched him endure so much pain for so long.
“I’ve watched him go through all this, “friend Nick Zimnicki said. “He keeps coming back. I know a lot other kids who would have quit. But he wanted to do something his senior year. It was his last chance. Nothing stops him.”
Not even what he refers to as “my big surgery. “This operation in eighth grade was by far the most serious. A rare type of tumor was discovered in his left foot. It required immediate surgery followed by radiation treatments at Stanford five days a week. Orthopedic tumor specialist Dr. David Mohler performed the operation.
“When he was diagnosed, we had to get him to a serious player, “Dr. Scott said of Mohler, who has a private practice on the Peninsula. “Nobody in Santa Cruz is a tumor specialist and it turns out this guy is one of the best.”
The surgery was successful, but Musich’s recovery was long and painful. He suffered a series of stress fractures, breaking nearly every bone in the foot over the months following the operation. He also had reconstructive surgery.
That “big “surgery kept Musich out of team sports until this year.
Musich had been a terror on the Pop Warner football fields prior to the medical setbacks. He played four seasons of junior football and was named MVP twice and defensive player of the year twice. He was a Little League all-star, as well.
His athletic future was bright, but each surgery set him back.
“It made me mad, “Musich said of having to watch from the sidelines as his former youth league teammates played sports throughout high school. “I’d see kids on the football team I used to play Pop Warner with. I used to knock those guys around.”
Musich, who wrestles at 152 pounds, will never really know what he could have accomplished had his athletic career not been derailed in seventh grade, with the first surgery ” which removed a bone in his right foot. That operation was not related to the left foot operation the following year, Scott said.
While there is a “small risk “of the tumor returning, Scott said, it’s not something standing in Musich’s way. He’s got some catching up to do on the wrestling mat. He wishes he learned the many moves and nuances of the sport earlier. “I’d be a lot better now, “he said.
Still, first-year coach Bob Solito is pleased to have Musich on the team and competing, even though he’s not fully familiar with the background.
“I’ve seen enough to tell me he’s a pretty incredible kid, “Solito said. “He’s got a great work ethic. I wish I had him as a freshman.”
Musich, an open and thoughtful teen, doesn’t dwell on the past. He’s enjoying a senior season.
“It reminds me of the old days, “he said, reflecting on his sports past. “It’s like Pop Warner, having a game every weekend.”
Musich, one of the few seniors on the team, is thrilled to be part of the rebuilding of the Soquel wrestling program, once of the strongest in the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League.
“We have a bunch of good freshmen, “Musich said. “This is going to be good team in a couple of years.”
It looked bleak for the sport a year ago when only six wrestlers finished the season. Solito said $77 remained in the wrestling budget when he took over earlier this year. He feared the team would not get uniforms.
Now with more than 20 wrestlers, Solito sees a future, one Musich is helping to build ” at least for one season.
Donations helped the team get new uniforms, and tournament directors have been generous. Scotts Valley coach Greg Stevens waived Soquel’s fees for the Coast Classic two weeks ago.
The future looks better for wrestling at Soquel. It also looks good for Musich, who can continue with the sport beyond high school in freestyle tournaments.
He also intends to keep racing motorcycles with his YZ-125 Yamaha.
“I just want to do the most I can and live my life to the fullest, “Musich said. “I don’t want anything to hold me back.”
If five times on an operating table couldn’t, what will?
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