Caption
Close
Jason Hoffman was in a lot of pain. That much was obvious. He asked those around him for ice and later some help back to his truck.
It was so unlike him.
Workout shorts were suddenly quite snug around his damaged knee and thigh — even testing his famously high threshold for discomfort.
The Hadley-Luzerne/Lake George wrestler needed several extra days last May for the inflammation to subside before finding out the total cost from the unintended torque of one offensive move: a broken thigh bone (femur) and, as later revealed, a torn meniscus.
It left the senior in a different mind-set than just trying to figure out how to finally reach the top spot after finishing fourth, second and third across the past three seasons at the state tournament.
"It was just a rough series of events for anyone to overcome," coach Larry Rounds said. "Let alone a high school junior."
Last February, Hoffman was the state's No. 1 seed, but he fell 3-2 in the semis. The year before, he had his sternum re-cracked six seconds into the state championship match.
"I don't exactly have an off switch," Hoffman said with a smile before a recent practice.
Albany Academy's Kyle Jasenski, the fateful workout partner that spring evening when Hoffman was injured, called Hoffman "strong as an ox."
Hoffman is still biting off as much as he can chew, which is a lot. Heavier by one weight class this year (from 160 to 170), he still carries a No. 1 ranking in Section II heading into Saturday's sectional tournament.
The season started with a first-period pin against Warrensburg. He was up to his old shots. Sort of.
"It wasn't the most tactical match," Hoffman said. "But it sure felt good."
Hoffman entered this season as easily one of the best wrestlers in the area. He's still seeking a Division I scholarship after losing the highly visible spring and summer tournaments to his injuries, which happened during a club practice at Niskayuna High.
That was an awfully long ride home. Hoffman routinely makes the two-hour round-trip drives to work out. (He even sheepishly admits it happens once in a while during the season.)
Wrestling invokes the old half-joke that it takes months to get into shape and mere days — or a few weeks, at most — to lose it.
Coach Rounds, Hoffman and those around them are naturally putting a positive spin on the late start. Hoffman produced 71 wins compared to just five losses during the previous two seasons. So certainly he is a proven commodity.
The bigger task has been finding the right combination of work ethic and caution to be ready to thrive as the 15-week season comes to its zenith this month.
"I believe he has all of the tools in place to win a state title," said one of his club coaches, Joe Uccellini. "He's been coming back with a plan, and he's followed it."
Uccellini points out he's talked to Hoffman about how he got hit by a car, breaking both legs, while in high school. The club coach came back to go 22-12; the injuries forced him to develop other parts of his wrestling style.
Frank Popolizio, another club coach, noted that his brother, Pat, was an assistant coach at American University when the school produced its first national Division I champ. Josh Glenn had a large chunk of the 2006-07 derailed by injuries.
"When you've got someone like Jason, you're dealing with a top-level guy. You know pretty quick when things are not good. What he did wasn't a boo-boo. He was going to be out for a while," Popolizio said. "But fortunately it was toward the lesser end of a serious injury. He's been working hard; no excuses. He stays the course."
The course through the summer and fall would often take Hoffman to his bedroom. He'd stare blankly at a wall after re-watching a variety of old matches. He would view his heartbreakers. He would analyze matches of wrestlers he could face soon as the season catapults toward the Feb. 24-25 state championships at Times Union Center.
He would visualize a different ending, "envision my hand getting raised in the state finals," he said.
"Here we are," Rounds said proudly, the season on track.
Hoffman's team training partner, Rich Conte, sees a full-bore competitor who these days is better on his feet in the neutral position.
A leg up on everybody still, as it were.
Ready to go, Hoffman added.
"Coming in fresh," he said. "This is definitely the fun time of year."
jfranchuk@timesunion.com
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
