Joseph Romano (12) was used to hearing the crowd screaming and cheering for him, but on Oct. 21 last year, the only thing heard was painful screaming from himself.
“I dislocated my elbow and partially tore four ligaments in it…That was my left elbow,” Romano said.
The injury led to Romano being helped off the field and forced to leave his team near the end of the season. Romano picked himself up from injury, however, with the support from his peers and looked upon recovery.
“I was out a few months. I had to miss my entire wrestling season…[My classmates] thought it looked cool, but overall they were there to support me.”
While a captain for the football team field this year, Romano had eight touchdowns on 35 carries, scoring on about one in every four plays his senior season.
“It’s just been some of the happiest moments in my life,” Romano said.
Part of those happy memories are from his time as captain as well.
“I’m big on leading by example, so just doing the right things when no one is looking,” Romano said “Just the integrity-based things.”
As he approaching his final season of playing sports for OHS, Romano feels he is in good standing with both his classmates and his teachers, as he is a prospective honor student with a multitude of AP classes on top of an athlete’s schedule.
“School comes first…If school isn’t going well, then sports aren’t going,” Romano said “That’s my priority.”
After graduation, Romano plans to attend the University of Missouri’s School of Engineering, where his academics will move to the forefront.
“I’m not [doing sports], just the academics in college,” Romano said. “This’ll be my last wrestling season, so I plan just to go out there and have fun.”
Romano wrapped up with a message he believes others should follow should they ever be in a similar situation as him.
“Trust the process and keep a positive mental attitude,” Romano said. “I refused to let [my injury] be the way my sports ended. I wouldn’t let it end that way.”
