Dylan Panas '25 Recruiting Profile

I have been wrestling since I was 7 years old.  I won a State Championship title right out of the gate on my first year and thought, how cool was that.  I think that is when I fell in love with the sport.  For the next 5 years, I experienced up and downs and grew as a wrestler with every win and loss.  The year prior to Covid I secured second place at States and was so encouraged to work harder and get better for the following year.  However, Covid 19 hit in 2020 and cancelled the entire wrestling year.  All I could think about was High School Wrestling would be next.  Unfortunately, a high power had other plans for me.  I was diagnosed with a medical condition known as Ulcerative Collitis.  I decided I would not let this define me and although I had bad days with this illness I pushed though and wrestled for my JV HS team.  Next was my Sophomore year in HS and I was excited to wrestle for the Varsity team.  I was 6-1, when I was injured on the mat, and had to forfeit the match.  A week later my life changed forever…..

      Due to my illness, and lowered immune system due to the medication I was prescribed.  I fell extremely ill.  I was now battling for my greatest match, my life.  I do not remember the next couple of weeks, but my mother who was by my side filled in the blanks.  I spent 8 days in the PICU, at Mass General Hospital, on respiratory support.  I had a chest tube, a central line, 105 degree fever, and my vital organs were shutting down.   I was diagnosed with necrotizing pheumonia and lived at the hospital for an entire month.  I was determined to beat the odds, get myself better and get back to what I loved to do, wrestle.  It was hard to be told by my mom and doctors that my wrestling season was over.  I did everything my doctors said and after months and months of therapy my body had recovered.  The doctors were shocked that I was able to recover so quickly.  They explained this as my strong will and conditioned body from wrestling was a positive.  I decided to have a major surgery in July 2023 to remove my entire colon, therefore removing the colitis.  My decision in part was to regain power of my body and get well.  The goal was to be healed and ready to wrestle in November. 

       I was doing great after surgery, healing and everything seemed to be working as it should.  My surgeon was amazed, that I was feeling so great.  All I could do was think about wrestling.  But a few weeks later, something changed.  My body felt foreign to me, I was not feeling well, my symptoms had returned.  How could this have happened?   For the next few months I saw specialist after specialist, changing up medications.  Trying anything to feel normal again.  I couldn’t attend school, basically couldn’t leave my house.  I couldn’t believe after everything I had gone though I was feeling so bad again, sometimes even worse.  All I wanted was to be a normal kid, attend school, see friends, and do what I loved, wrestle.  Months went by, with no answers.  I needed to regain some normalcy.  I have worked from home on my school work maintaining my 3.6 GPA.  Finally I got the answers I have been seeking.  I have started a specialized physical therapy program to address these issues and I intend to get stronger both physically and mentally to return to my high school for my Senior Year and have the best wrestling season to date.