MIDDLEVILLE, Mich. — Thornapple Kellogg senior Kyron Zoet has spent most of his life on the wrestling mat.
"I started really young, young fives, kindergarten, somewhere around there," said Zoet.
In high school Zoet has won over 150 matches, finishing fifth in the state as a junior. He hoped to do even better to finish his career.
"Ever since junior year I've been getting pretty good, not losing as much, and this year I had a pretty incredible regular season 44, 45 or 46 wins. Somewhere in there," said Zoet.
That incredible senior season came to a sudden end.
"For a couple of weeks, maybe a couple months now, I was having like very minor symptoms like a stomach ache at one tournament, sniffles at another one, sore throat for a week here or there," said Zoet.
After placing first in regionals, Zoet's medical issues started getting worse. He learned that an infection had spread throughout his body, including his hand and hips.
He spent time in and out of the local hospital.
"They transferred me to the hospital in Grand Rapids because I was going to Hastings so they transferred me to that one and then I did surgery that night," said Zoet. "And then by the time I woke up, my hand was cut open and wrapped up."
The surgery on his hand meaning he was out for his teams state championship run.
"I started getting a little teary eyed that I wasn't going to be able to be there at practice for my teammates," said Zoet.
He was able to get healthy enough to cheer on his team at Ford Field last week, a goal he wanted to meet.
"When I was diagnosed with the infection and all this stuff, and I could barely walk. That was my biggest goal is to be able to at least go and watch some of my friends play," said Zoet.
Although he wasn't able to end his high-school wrestling career the way he wanted, Zoet's coach Dayne Fletke says he's still proud of the young man that gave his team everything he had.
"You know, just watching all those things as a coach, you know, to see that that's what we want every athlete to do. And he kind of was a great role model to show the younger guys," said Fletke.
Zoet is now improving and in good spirits.
"It just means a lot to me that I was able to get 150 wins for for my team and able to put up that many points for for all my teammates that work alongside me every day," said Zoet.
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