MHS Sports: Wrestling with the pandemic

Coty Tweedy is a typical 18-year-old high school senior. He enjoys fishing, playing sports, and cars. A typical senior year is sports, homecoming, prom and the final destination for every student, graduation.

Even though the pandemic has shut down all of those events for the foreseeable future, not being able to attend those events is the new normal for the seniors of 2020. However, nothing about Tweedy's senior has been typical.

His roller coaster ride of a year began July 10, 2019. While the all-star Madill senior was driving, the tread on his back tire came off. This caused him to crash through a ravine and wrap his truck around a tree.

Thanks to his mom Melissa's quick thinking, she was able to locate him. Because of damage incurred by the wreck, Tweedy had to have multiple surgeries on his leg - he had a stretcher attached to his leg to keep the muscles from shriveling up, and he needed a rod placed in his leg. His injuries consisted of a brokenfibulaand tibia, and a dislocated ankle. He spent seven days in the ICU at Texoma Medical Center.

He was told he would be out of commission for at least six months. However, due to his determination and the fact he was an in-shape athlete, he was back in three and a half months.

Even though h e missed almost his entire football season ofhis senior year, he was healed enough to play Senior Night.

Tweedy said he switched gears for the next sport.

"I immediately j umped into wrestling and started conditioning," Tweedy said.

Apparently, the conditioning and his determination paid off, because he qualified for state, making it the second time in his high school career.

Tweedy said words can barely describe the feeling of being able to wrestle again.

"[My] first match back, it felt amazing to win, especially after everything I had just went through," Tweedy said.

The senior refu ses to let anything hold him back. This year when he went to state, he competed after just recovering from double pneumonia the week prior.

Like many seniors of 2020, multiple plans were derailed because of the pandem ic. Tweedy was forced to miss out on baseball season. He also had events like the Wrestling Sports Banquet, Senior Night, and graduation ripped out from under him.

Tweety said he did not let the accident slow him down, and theCOVID-19quarantine is no different. He said he is fishing daily, a nd working on rebuilding and restoring his 1976 Chevrolet. Tweedy was a lso invited back to the 47th Cadet Lawman Academy as a staff member. In 2019, Tweedy attended the a cademy as a cadet.

He said he is not worried about how the pandemic is going to affect his college goals, because classes do not start till August, anyway.

Tweedy only has two words to say about the quarantine and how it is affecting his future pla ns. "What quarantine?"