Dakota Gardner immediately knew something was wrong.

"Right off the bat, it was probably 15 seconds into the match, I felt a pop," he said. "I somehow won the match in overtime - I have no clue how, I don't really remember. I couldn't use my arm."

When he walked off the mat after that 4-2 victory in the 152-pound quarterfinals at the state tournament last year, the then-junior thought in the back of his mind that his season might be over.