THE FRONT ROW WITH BRUCE BOURQUIN: Friday, November 27, 2015

Last season, during the River City Duals on Jan. 10 at Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene High 132-pound wrestler Dylan Lockwood was in agony.

An opponent’s knee landed hard on his left hand and broke it. Lockwood won that match, but lost the next two that day. The then-junior found out from a doctor a few days later that he had a broken hand. Soon afterward, he had three pins inserted in the hand during surgery.

“He broke his hand and the doctor said he had a significant break,” Coeur d’Alene coach Jeff Moffat said. “We’re thinking he’s out for the season. He nearly missed the last month of the season.”

HIS COACHES, both of his parents and at least a few of his teammates all thought he’d miss the rest of the three-month season. Practically everyone around him felt that way.

Everyone except Dylan. Not one to quit easily at all, Lockwood was out six weeks to recover and returned soon after he was cleared to return.

“I knew I worked too hard, practiced too long to let a broken hand stop me,” Lockwood said. “I decided to keep it iced and I had to carry a soft ball to squeeze it during my classes.”

Lockwood, who was 17 at the time, broke his fourth metacarpal, a thin bone located just below the ring finger.

“It was a move out of bounds,” Lockwood said. “I planted it awkwardly and he landed on it. I had surgery three days after I broke it. They put three pins in it. I came back the week of districts and won 2-0 in the third-place match against my teammate, Chase Baca, to qualify for state.”

Dylan’s father, Mike Lockwood, his mother, Tia Vesser, and his sister, Teigan Lockwood, now a junior at Boise State University, were at the match where he broke his hand. Mike owns his own concrete business located in Coeur d’Alene, C4 Concrete, and Vesser is a physical education teacher at Canfield Middle School in Coeur d’Alene. In 2013, Teigan ran in Ironman Coeur d’Alene for the first time and Vesser has run in the competition six times.

“He broke it in the first match that day,” Mike said. “He had a spiral fracture. He did a good job coming back, he didn’t have the same strength in his hand after he came back, but he was pretty determined. Picture a tree trunk that split all the through and up the bone.”

DESPITE LOCKWOOD’S determination, some around his close circle of family and coaches weren’t as optimistic as he was.

“He always thought he could wrestle,” Moffat said. “His parents and I had our doubts. He came back about two weeks before (5A) districts and finished third. Then he finished fourth at state at Holt Arena in Pocatello against a kid from Madison (senior Chad Green), he only lost 3-0. At state, he won three matches by one or two points.”

This season, Lockwood was ranked third by TheIdahoWrestler.com in the 132-pound weight class, behind top-ranked Tyler Wolf of Post Falls and second-ranked Taite Martin of Bonneville.

Go ahead, take a guess as to whether he has goals this season to win the whole shindig, especially now that he’s fully healthy, despite the fact he’s moving up a weight class to wrestle at 138 pounds?

“For sure, I want to win state,” Lockwood said. “I want to work my butt off and leave no regrets.”

AFTER SPENDING so much time with people in the medical profession, Lockwood said he is thinking about going into physical therapy or the construction management business.

“I might want to get into physical therapy, because that’s what I’ve been a part of,” Dylan said. “In construction, hopefully I can one day be helping my dad.”

During the summer before his sophomore year, during offseason workouts with another club wrestling team, Lockwood developed a lasting friendship with Oregon State University freshman wrestler Bryce Parson, a two-time state champion while competing at Lewiston High. Parson is roughly in the same weight class as Lockwood and the two lived together in the house of Parson’s family.

“If I could do whatever I wanted to and was accepted anywhere, it’d be with my best friend,” Lockwood said of Parson. “Our sisters were friends and in the offseason, I practiced with his club team.”

Shortly before last season, Lockwood also came back from a torn meniscus in his knee. He has had surgery three times in his right knee after tearing it during his eighth-grade, sophomore and junior seasons.

“It took a lot of toughness and dedication to come back,” Moffat said of both injuries. “He always stayed in shape and kept his weight down. He has a great gas tank, that’s why he wins those one- or two-point matches. He has loftier goals this season, we hope he stays injury-free. He’s not lacking confidence, he’s shooting for the stars.”

Bruce Bourquin is a sports writer at The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2013, via e-mail at bbourquin@cdapress.com or via Twitter @bourq25