On the second day of the U23 World Team Wrestling trials, Luka Wick’s body was fighting against him.
His already sore hip screamed out in frustration as he limped on an elliptical, but he had no choice but to carry on.
Day two of the trials came, but Wick was in too much pain to warm up. He stepped onto the mat for his first bout of the day, a match he wouldn’t walk away from.
Wick collapsed as soon as he stepped off the mat, and when he got back to Cal Poly, he got the bad news. He’d need hip surgery for a torn labrum and would likely never wrestle again.
“Realizing I have to miss an entire college year, especially when I was feeling so good, it hit hard,” Wick said. “Because people don’t really come back from this injury.”
But over a year later, Wick is ranked No. 25 in the country at 165 lbs and is doing the best wrestling of his life.
However, his rise back to the top of his weight class was not a smooth one, and two months after Wick’s first surgery, he couldn’t get through a week of hard practice.
“I’m in a practice, switching my lead leg to my left side, doing everything I can to just make it through,” Wick said. “I was a grown man crying, and it just wasn’t working.”
The injury brought Wick back to when he began wrestling over a decade prior, a time when he remembered dreading stepping onto the mat.
“The first eight years of wrestling, I despised it,” Wick. “Wrestling was my worst enemy. I hated it. I wanted to do anything else except wrestle, but I had to.”
He was following in the footsteps of his twin brothers, Evan and Zander, who both had multiple All-Americans under their belt by the time they committed to wrestle at Wisconsin.
Luka said he didn’t start to enjoy the sport until he started to put on size in eighth grade. For the first time since he started the sport, he felt like he was able to improve.
He matched and exceeded the success of his older brothers, placing second at a national tournament in Tulsa.
Luka had also started lifting weights with his father, Bill Wick, throughout his dominant run.
Bill helped guide Luka through the process, but even he was surprised at the progress his son was making.
“I felt like I was feeding this kid steroids or something, because he was literally a machine,” Bill said.
Once he found his rhythm, Luka was hooked on wrestling.
So, being forced to sit on the sidelines and wonder if his pain would be permanent took a toll on Luka, sending him into a few months of depression.
“An injury will mess you up mentally, and it did make me hate wrestling for a while,” Luka said.
Finding a solution, and one that lasted, was the main goal for Luka coming into the 2024-25 season.
Wick had already gotten a cortisone shot to reduce inflammation in his hip, and repeated shots can lead to permanent damage to cartilage in the affected area.
His final option was a platelet-rich plasma injection that would speed up the healing process and reduce his pain if successful. For Wick, it was his final chance to get back on the mat.
“It helps, but it hurts, bad,” Wick said.
The shot did end up helping Wick, and after a year of waiting on the sidelines, he got the green light to start competing again.
Wick’s healing process was unique, but his initial injury was a known problem.
Luka’s hip injury stemmed from a genetic issue at the joint, and Zander also underwent surgery on both hips during his time in Wisconsin.
Bill got a different hip surgery a week after Luka, and they went through rehab together.
That strong support system played a big role for Luka throughout his recovery process, with both the wrestling team and his family helping him every step of the way.
Bill’s hip replacement did mean, however, faster recovery and jokes at his son’s expense.
At 57, Bill’s quick recovery made it easy to give Luka a hard time, saying “‘Yeah, what’s taking you so long to get back?’ I’m over here squatting, and I’ve been out of surgery for, you know, eight weeks.”
Luka’s family ties run deep into the world of wrestling. His brother Evan is a two-time NCAA All-American and three-time national qualifier during his collegiate career at Wisconsin.
Evan also works as a coach for Cal Poly Wrestling, and has a different perspective on Luka’s journey.
“But I think with time off, it seems like Luka gets better,” Evan said. “He challenges himself to kind of make up the ground he lost when he was hurt.”
Luka returned to competition in November with dominant performances, going 10-6 with a 6-bout win streak highlighting the middle of his season.
The difference in his wrestling has been clear to see, according to head coach Jon Sioredas.
“Less protecting, more taking risks and actually enjoying it, having fun and now he’s starting to free up and let loose a little bit,” Sioredas said. “When he does that, he’s one of the best.”
His new approach in competition has been on full display this year, as Luka has forced four falls across his 10 matches.
Despite a history of hip injuries and two total years of medical leave while at Cal Poly, Sioredas noted that none of Luka’s challenges have affected his commitment to the team and to improving himself.
“He’s dealt with a lot of adversity and setbacks, but, you know, he’s done it with a smile on his face and is not one to complain,” Sioredas said. “He just does the best he can with what he has.”
Luka’s change in style has also had an effect on his demeanor off the mat, and while he was in pain and struggling to compete a year ago, he’s now free to work on and off the mat with no obstacles.
Luka’s coaches and teammates have seen the immediate difference in his approach to the sport.
“They’re like, ‘Dude, you’re so happy, what changed?’ And I was like, ‘Dude, I’m not in pain,’” Luka said. “Like it’s kind of been miserable and now I can really find my love for the sport again.”
