Comeback complete

By EASportsToday.com
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Updated: January 28, 2015

Entrekin return from elbow injury complete with top award at county meet

Ohatchee’s Payton Entrekin (R) proclaims victory in the 128-pound final of the Calhoun County Tournament. On the bottom, Entrekin takes quick control on Alexandria’s Gannon Womack in the final. (Photos by Diane Coley Sexton).

By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today

WEAVER – Anyone who saw Payton Entrekin’s left elbow explode on the mat that day in December would have doubted he’d ever wrestle again this season.

But there he was Tuesday night in the middle of the championship mat, confidently raising his left arm and holding the plaque that let everyone know he was all the way back.

Entrekin, a senior 128-pounder, was the Most Valuable Wrestler at the Calhoun County Tournament, eight weeks after dislocating his elbow trying to catch himself from a fall in a Dec. 3 bout against Oxford’s Quintez Pearson.

He was voted most outstanding by five of the seven coaches after pinning his three opponents in a total time of 69 seconds; it takes most people that long to walk across the gym. He won his title with a 10-second pin of Alexandria’s Gannon Womack. His most taxing bout lasted 46 seconds.

“This means a lot to me because it made up for all the lost matches I’ve had from not being able to wrestle when I dislocated my elbow,” Entrekin said. “Everybody didn’t think I’d come back after that; they thought I was done after that. This was my comeback, definitely.”

It was a scary and painful injury.

Not only did he dislocate the joint, he blew out the capsule that keeps it together. Luckily, he didn’t break an arm bone in the process, like Wellborn’s Hunter Ray did in a similar fall last week in a four-way meet at Alexandria.

Most wrestlers might have been out of action a while; Entrekin was back in a month. He returned to the mat for an exhibition bout at Alexandria a few days before the Indians’ own tournament and won easily. He hasn’t lost since. He is 16-2 on the season.

“I thought he was done; that was my first thought,” Ohatchee coach Matt Sweatman said. “He’s a resilient kid. He was voted captain last year last year as a junior by the team. You can just tell the difference when he’s wrestling with our team and when he’s not. The kids respond to him. They know if Payton Entrekin’s on the mat they’ve got a chance.”

Oxford coach Matt Tanner was right there when the mishap occurred and thought it was over for Entrekin, too. He even went to Sweatman to express his condolences. Tanner had no reservation tossing his vote Tuesday toward him.

“Elbow injuries always look worse than they are, but it was bad, no doubt,” Tanner said. “If he could’ve finished that match he would’ve done it. He’s just a hard-nosed kid. I’ve seen him work all summer and he’s just one of those guys who is not going to quit.

“By God he was going to come back, there was no question about that. He’s a tough kid. There are lot of good wrestlers in the county you could make a case for, but to actually have witnessed what happened to him and see him battle back … it was hands down, no question about it (Entrekin was the MVW).”