Sneed shaking snakebit label

by Eric Keppeler
Niagara Wheatfield Tribune, February 15, 2007

Darren Sneed hasn’t had an easy time of it.

The Niagara-Wheatfield senior has been a standout performer for the Niagara Frontier League champion Falcons wrestling team since midway through his freshman year. He’s been slowed by injuries not once but twice, and at one point he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to continue his wrestling career.

Now he’s back again and better than ever, and just one step away from his first trip to the state tournament.

“It’s remarkable, how he’s come back from a string of injuries,” N-W wrestling coach Tim Lukasik said. “He’s really had some bad luck and just had a rough time of it. So for him to bounce back, through all of the physical therapy and the rehab and overcoming all of the mental barriers associated with athletic injury – it’s amazing.”

Sneed rocketed into this weekend’s state qualifier at Fredonia in style, winning the 189-pound weight class in Class AAAA last weekend at Clarence. A win this week would move him on to states.

“It feels great,” Sneed said. “Everyone was happy for me, telling me they were so proud to see me come back. It made me feel really good.”

The trouble started last year, when Sneed says he was having the season of his life. He was on a big winning streak and had just won the prestigious NCCC Officials Tournament. A few matches later, he landed badly on his head and snapped it quickly, fracturing his C-6 vertebrae and sidelining him indefinitely – maybe forever.

When he discovered that it would be possible to resume his career, he had a decision to make.

“I was mostly sad that I couldn’t wrestle any more last year, but I had to think long-term,” Sneed said. “I had to think about how my parents would feel if I went back out there because I knew it would be hard for them. I knew they’d be nervous and scared, so I had to think about them before anything else.”

Finally, and with the blessing of his family, he was medically cleared and came back this year and, sure enough, he tore his rotator cuff early in the season and was sidelined again.

Sneed says this time he never thought about quitting the sport he loves. It was easier for him to keep in shape since he could still run - as opposed to last year when he had to wear a neck brace.

He returned to the lineup around Christmas at the Oswego Tournament and has steadily improved each week since.

“It was more frustration than anything else, but I just can’t give this up,” Sneed said. “If you love something this much, you’ve got to work for it and go harder and harder. You have to believe you’re unstoppable, and just give it everything you’ve got.”

That’s been bad news for the rest of the wrestlers at 189 pounds in Section VI.

“Any time you have a serious injury like he had, it’s hard to rebound,” Lukasik said. “But he’s always kept his positive attitude and supported his teammates – now it’s great to see him doing so well.”