January 12, 2012

After a solid performance on the football field this fall, Fluvanna's Logan Walls turned his attention to his career finale on the wrestling mat, aiming for a repeat trip to states. Instead, all the senior can do is watch.

On November 21 during a wrestling drill at practice, a pair of teammates fell into Logan's leg, shattering his right tibia and fibula and sending the senior to the hospital by ambulance.

"There was no question," said Logan. "I mean I heard both bones break."

Logan had titanium rod inserted in his shin and missed more than a month and a half of school. The senior moves with the aid of a walker and has learned to accept his new role on the team.

"Everybody strives to be a state champion," said Logan, who lost in the second round in 2011. "And I was right there at the peak where I could really do something and to have it all pulled out is really bad but that's over and it's time to move forward and get on with something else."

"This is every athlete's top horror, getting hurt your senior year and completely losing your season" said teammate Ben Lacey. "But he didn't have all his eggs in one basket; he's not just an athlete, he's a real smart guy in the classroom, real driven."

Logan is a straight-A student and hopes to enroll in the aviation program at Averett University in Danville. But his college plans don't end there as he expects to make a full recovery and play football for the Division III school as well.

"It's sheer motivation just to get in there and hit the weight room and really put on sheer mass," Logan said about his plans to start working on upper body strength. "To use this and say, I have nowhere else to go but up from here."

Coach Craig Connor called the injury a severe break, but not career-ending.

"We've let him talk to some athletes that have had the same type of injury," said Connor. "To reassure him that you can still come back and do athletics, whether it be football or wrestling, in the future."

Logan is still not back to school full-time but tries to support his teammates at practice and meets whenever possible.

"I'm stuck here and it's not gonna change," he said gesturing to his walker. "But maybe I can change that kid out there for his senior year...four years down the road maybe he perfects something else because of something I might have told him. That's what you gotta do."