Sad news. R.J. Nill had a torn meniscus. He had surgery today, they were able to successfully repair it. He will be on crutches three to four weeks, but unfortunately will be out for the season. He should be able to return to normal sports activities in three to four months.

Best wishes to R.J. for a speedy recovery, and congratulations on his great season!

What school and weight did he compete at on the season? What year in school is he currently? Sad to hear about the tear...I tore my acl and I was having a great season at the time I did it. Get well soon R.J.

R. J. was having a super freshman season at 112 lbs. for St. Thomas Aquinas.

I think he was around 24-0 going into the Blue Valley NW tournament this weekend. He lost two matches to spectacular kids and finished fourth.

thats a long time for a menescus tear, i had a complete tear and was back in a week, a coach i had, had the same thing and was wrestling a dual 4 days later. i think maybe he should stop babying himself and and get back out there. but congrats on the well done season.

I dont know the severity of his injury, but i also tore my meniscus my jr yr and was told i needed to have surgery on it and that i shouldnt do long amounts running. I did no such thing and finished out my jr yr w/ the injury. My knee was still killing my senior yr and i ran x-country w/ a torn meniscus. I would say if he is in the same situation like myself, tough it out and wrestle.

I may not be as tough as all you Superpain Threshold guys. But a highschool freshman 24-2 and winner of 4 or five varsity tournaments including Basheor/Lindwood, Johnson County Classic, Eudora, Spring Hill. I'll bet you are all doctors who have seen his results. I personally would rather have a healthy R.J. in his sophmore, junior, and senior year. I will also bet most of you would give your sore right meniscus to have a freshman 24-2 at this point in the year. And do not tell me about toughing it out. I have been in the meat grinder a few years.
If he is able to compete he will compete If he can't he won't. Leave it at that.

Sean - STA Kids Coach

Well said! rhill

Exactly, Sean! Anyone who knows RJ knows if he could possibly wrestle, he absolutely would. He and his parents are following the advice of the experts to do what is best for him now and in the many years he has to function with that knee, long after wrestling is over.

thats wierd the experts said i would be out for 6 months to a year with a tore acl, mcl, pcl well lets see that was 3'1/2 months ago and i'm squatting and wrestling on it and doing spring football so maybe those so called experts need to stop babying him and his parents can make all the excuses they want for him but we all know he was what we people who actually stick the season out hurt is a case of pussitis. and i would rather have a freshman who can make through a whole season without crying about some cartledge in his knee hurting you don't even need your meniscus all it does is act as a shock absorber to your knee joint. so make all your excuses about the sevearity of his injury we all know the truth and i'll tell you what sean when you become a real coacH I.E. A HIGH SCHOOL ORCOLLEGE COACH STAY IN THE KIDS FORUM, i know kids who would give thier right nut to be in his posistion w/ a tore meniscus because they know they would at least finish the season instead of giving up and saying oh 24-2 is good enough i guess i'll just try and win it next year... gimmie a break... the pussification of america ...right here

dallas browning-
you are an idiot. shut up and don't talk anymore. Life does not revolve around wrestling. The kid is a freshman, he's got at the VERY LEAST 3 more years of wrestiling. By the time thats over he'll be...all of 18. What about the rest of his life. One surgery at 15, or countless others for the rest of his life. ok \, you use your knee every time you take a step, a shot, go bowling, swimming, or duck hunting. You use it when running, doing back flips and jumping on trampolines. While doing cart wheels, pummeling your little brother, throwing snowballs at cars, and tossing watermelons off bridges. I'd say that a shock absorber for your knee joint is fairly important.

ok 1st of of you you overweight cheerlerader wrestling does revolve aroun wrestling because its the oldest and most pure sport. 2nd of all when and if he actually wins state he knows he's going to be disappointed because he knows that he could have another one...and you don't need your meniscus proven fact...i don't any in eiter of my knees and i'm walking, wrestling and playing football just fine....oh yeah 2 words jenny craig:)b

i remember joe johnston formally of sme and now at iowa mesing his shoulder up at state and i thinkoh yeah he wrestled became a man and won the thing....maybe he needs a rolemodel like johnston

You really are a moron browning. He really should sit out a few weeks and see how he is feeling and if he is strong enough to go out and wrestle at full strength like nothing ever happened, then go for it. But if his knee is still weak and there is a possibility for re-injuring his knee then he should sit out. Why risk three more years of wrestling when you could sit out and completely re-heal or wrestle at half strength get beat and lose more wrestling time?

Dear Dallas:

I personally witnessed R. J. Nill wrestle many tough and physical matches at the Tulsa Nationals, the U. S. Junior Open, and many tournaments in Kansas. I have never known R. J. to duck competition!

As was stated earlier, none of us on this talk forum have viewed the medical records, and are not qualified to give advice on anothers injury.

Since you do not know the young man, or the severity of the injury, kindly keep your negative comments regarding a freshman in high school to yourself.

How is this even an issue? If you are injured, you take the time that is needed to recover, and then go back to whatever it is that you do. You go on the advice of "people with Medical Degrees," not "people on a wrestling forum that think all of America is a bunch of pussies and that don't punctuate."

I agree with you Mr. Browning, there is certainly a difference between pain and injury. However, I think that with Mr. Nill we are certainly dealing with an injury.

And your point about Shawnee Mission East Legend Joe Johnston, that is a different situation. First, Joe was a senior; you are much more experienced and able to wrestle around an injury. Also, I know for a fact that Joe's parents were very concerned about him continuing, but because he was 18 they let him make his own decision. Mr. Nill is 15, he is a kid, this doesn't make him a p-u-s-s-y.

i stand corrected...not really, its a meniscus you do not need it, its a useless piece of cartledge theres one way to tear it and one way fix it, i know alot of people who have this surgery done and they were back a lot quicker than he is projecting...i don't want to get off on a rant hear ut you can call me an idiot all you want but it makes no difference to me well because i don't like anybody and i'm just that big of an a$$hole i guess but grant it if he wants to take all that time off watever its his state tourney to lose but if thats what he wants ...whatever its his life not mine. if he says he can't go so be it . good luck next year

i was 16 when i had my meniscus tear so i really don't think agr has a thing to do with this...obviously he just doesn't have the heart o a champion...just has the skills of one

I know RJ personally since he and my son have wrestled each other the last couple of years. I can assure you all there is no tougher or more fierce competitor. My son has been out with a partial tear of the MCL since the 1st week of December but returned to practice this past Monday. He really hoped to see RJ the last 2 weeks of the season. RJ is a very good wrestler but more importantly a quality young man. Take care of health now RJ and we will see you next year.

Dallas you are dumb,you have no idea what you are talking about,just be quiet and post on something you know about!!