All the speculation of the past 48 hours regarding Jordan Burroughs' knee injury can now end.
The University of Nebraska issued a press release Monday, stating that their 157-pound starter will not be competing for the rest of the 2009-2010 season due to an injury to his left knee sustained in his overtime loss to Steve Brown of Central Michigan on Saturday. An MRI revealed Burroughs has a torn PCL and LCL on his left knee. He will undergo surgery in January.
"Unfortunately, we have lost Jordan Burroughs for the season, but we're fortunate that we will seek a medical redshirt to get this year back," Husker head coach Mark Manning said in the release. "I believe he will qualify for that due to him not competing more than 30 percent of this season. With successful surgery and good rehab, he'll be back better than ever next year."
"You don't replace a young man like Jordan," Manning said. "On the other hand, it gives other guys on the team an opportunity to step up. It also gives our team great lessons in life that relate to athletics. It shows them you have to protect yourself and make the most of your opportunities because you are not promised anything. We'll move on from this and our team will be fine."
Prior to his injury and loss to CMU's Brown, Burroughs had won 44 straight matches, including a perfect 38-0 junior season that culminated with the Sicklerville, N.J., native winning the 157-pound NCAA Division I title, and All-American honors for the second straight year.
Burroughs is the second 2009 NCAA D1 champ unable to defend his title because of injury. In September, 149-pound champ Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State injured his shoulder in a fall while rollerblading, had surgery, and will be out the entire 2009-2010 season.
Resources
Nebraska press release: NCAA champ Burroughs out for the season
College Wrestling Examiner, earlier Monday: Burroughs out for season, according to his Facebook page
College Wrestling Examiner, Saturday: Burroughs' win streak snapped, knee injured
TheMat.com college wrestling scores for the week of December 14-20
College Wrestling 101: Links to articles answering basic questions about wrestling, including rules, scoring, uniforms, more
Follow College Wrestling Examiner Mark Palmer on Twitter
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