Homestead Wrestler Still Hospitalized
FORT WAYNE – The Homestead High School wrestling team was slated to return to the practice mats Monday night.
The Spartans can be excused though if their thoughts are somewhere else.
Nik Gogos, a freshman member of the team, suffered a severe neck and back injury Saturday during the Warsaw Invitational.
Gogos, a promising 145-pounder for the Spartans, remains in Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne after undergoing surgery Saturday night.
Nathan DeVaux, in his first season as the Homestead head coach, visited Gogos on Sunday.
“His doctors are optimistic, but I don’t know much about his recovery right now,” said DeVaux in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “But, his family is strong and a lot of people care about Nik. The support has been unbelievable.”
“As bad as this is, Nik would want his teammates to continue on and leave it all on the mat like he does. I plan to convey Nik’s spirit to his teammates at practice Monday night. Nik is one of those kids who gets it. He sees the big picture. He’s a talented kid and a hard worker.”
Gogos was wrestling an Eastside opponent when he was unfortunately illegally slammed to the mat. The Eastside foe forfeited the match as the official called the illegal move, but Gogos was first taken to KCH in Warsaw and then transferred to Lutheran.
“The thing that really impressed me Sunday was that Nik said he wanted to go to Eastside when he gets out of the hospital and tell the Eastside kid that he forgives him,” said DeVaux. “That’s pretty powerful for a 15-year old.
“His outlook is very positive from our visit on Sunday. He was cracking jokes.”
DeVaux was just hired about nine days before the season opener.
“One thing I talked about coming in was being a family,” said DeVaux. “I didn’t expect it to be tested like this so soon, but we will support Nik and his family and do everything we can for them. The people involved in this will do their best to make the best of this situation.”
DeVaux noted that doctors hope to be able to move Gogos into a therapy wing at Lutheran as soon as possibly Tuesday.
DeVaux also praised Warsaw coach Justin Smith and WCHS athletic director Dave Anson. Smith stopped at Lutheran Saturday night to check on Gogos and Anson visited him at KCH Saturday, according to DeVaux.