THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: A move that changed it all for Roberts

It was a move that Coeur d’Alene High senior wrestler Drew Roberts had executed a number of times over the years.

Little did he know at the time, it was going to be a setback and learning experience that led to bigger things down the road.

DURING HIS quarterfinal match at 152 pounds at the Rollie Lane Invitational on Jan. 8, Roberts pinned Rigby’s Peyton Brooks. But something just didn’t feel right.

“I hit an elbow pass and ran into a single (leg takedown),” Roberts said. “And then my left leg posted like in normal wrestling and then I felt something pop. It hurt at the time, but I kind of wrestled through it. After the match, my knee really hurt, but I didn’t think much of it. I just thought I’d tweaked it. It kind of bothered me and the next morning, I had the medical staff at the tournament look at it and they told me to get an MRI and get it further evaluated. I thought they were just being cautious, but never really thought I’d torn my ACL, and the MRI confirmed it.”

Not just a small tear, but totally torn.

“It was kind of a surprise to me,” Roberts said. “I knew something happened during the match, but I didn’t think it was that bad.”

Coeur d’Alene coach Jeff Moffat — who is also Drew’s uncle — pulled Roberts from the semifinals at Rollie Lane, while Roberts, at the time, wanted to keep going.

“He obviously wants what’s best for me as my coach and uncle,” Roberts said. “I think he wanted to be careful. I was a little mad in the moment and wanted to wrestle. But looking back, it was the right decision.”

Roberts did not compete for Coeur d’Alene until a dual with Post Falls on Feb. 4. However, he didn’t miss practices.

“I was getting a workout in one way or another,” Roberts said. “Once the brace got here, I was able to start wrestling again, but it was modified.”

His time observing matches helped him grow, Roberts added.

“It’s definitely different to have that perspective of being on the sidelines,” Roberts said. “With the injury, I got to watch a little more and didn’t have to focus on competition and could slow things down in my style of wrestling. It was just about focusing on a smaller zone.”

During practices, Roberts was paired with Coeur d’Alene assistant coach Tony Hook, who wrestled at Sandpoint High and at Oregon State. Upon his return, Roberts beat Ethan Miller of Post Falls by technical fall.

“Coach Hook was a big help for me after the injury,” Roberts said. “I felt good in practice. Hook said I felt good, but it’s always different in practice compared to competition. I was a little nervous, just not knowing how well I could wrestle. But after that match, I got my confidence back.”

AT STATE, Roberts pinned his first two opponents, won his semifinal match by major decision and then beat Preston Owens of Kuna 3-2 for the 5A 152-pound title for his third high school state title in four years.

“I knew I felt good and knew I wasn’t at my best,” said Roberts, who also won state titles as a freshman at Crescent View High in Corvallis, Ore., and as a junior at Coeur d’Alene. “It’s harder for people to see that when they don’t know what’s really going on. The only person that can see it is the person in that spot. Once I got my first match (at state), I was confident and thought I was good enough to get through it.”

And he did.

“It was kind of a relief and joy that I got it done,” Roberts said. “Being my last match in high school, it was just a good moment. I remember jumping into Hook’s arms. I don’t remember much of what was said by my coaches, but they just told me they were proud of me.”

And to think, it almost didn’t happen as a Viking. Roberts wrestled at University High in Spokane as a sophomore, finishing third at state.

“Drew wanted to come here after his dad (Kevin) was let go (as an assistant) at Oregon State,” Moffat said. “He wanted to come here as a sophomore, but it didn’t work out until the spring of his sophomore year.”

The state tournament was scaled back to one day in all classifications for COVID-19 reasons this year.

“I think the one-day tournament did help, so that it (Roberts' knee) would not stiffen up overnight with a two-day tournament,” Moffat said. “He did tweak it a little bit in the semifinal match, so we were relieved when he did win in the finals. He had to wrestle more defensive because he just couldn’t do what he normally does in matches, which is attack.”

ROBERTS HAS signed to wrestle at the University of Minnesota in the fall. His father, Kevin, was an assistant coach with the Golden Gophers in 2006. His mother, Cami, is the sister of Coeur d’Alene coaches Jeff and Kelly Moffat, and a former Viking athlete.

“When recruiting opened at the end of my sophomore year, I got a call from them and started talking to them then,” Drew Roberts said. “I have a couple of memories of being at Minnesota as a kid, but they’re mostly about all the snow. I was at the matches, but I was so little that I can’t remember it.”

Due to COVID, Roberts was only able to take visits to Minnesota and Fresno State before on-campus visits were shut down by the NCAA.

“I’d planned on taking visits in the spring,” Roberts said. “But then COVID hit and we weren’t allowed to visit anywhere else.”

Still, competing in the Big Ten Conference was always something he dreamed of.

“It’s kind of the pinnacle conference,” Roberts said. “And wrestling in that environment was very appealing to me. I’m very excited for that, but that wasn’t the main factor. It’s great to have, but the school, coaches and the resources the school has, it was just the right decision.”

Roberts had surgery to repair his ACL on Thursday, with the goal of being ready to compete again when practices at Minnesota begin in September.

“I was just kind of living in the moment,” Roberts said. “You can’t be nervous — well, you can be, but you’ve got to have fun with it. You just have to have fun and compete, and if you do that, the results will take of itself.”

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.