Red Lion's Schell wrestles through injury

Jared Schell struggled to hop onto the podium to receive his second-place medal at the District 3 Class AAA Section V wrestling tournament Saturday.

Then Schell struggled to step down. He didn’t battle toe-to-toe with Northeastern’s Blaine Yinger for first place. Schell took a medical forfeit because of an injury he suffered in his semifinal bout against New Oxford’s Brock Hartman.

Schell was on the mat for several minutes during the middle of the semifinal as trainers and coaches checked on him. Clearly in pain, Schell continued.

“I'm happy that I could fight the pain,” he said while sitting on the podium after sectionals had come to an end. “I’m happy that I was able to place and make districts.”

The senior wrestled with a knee injury, and what could be a torn ACL, all the way through overtime, where he picked up a 5-3 decision. Schell said the urging of his father — Red Lion head coach Chris Schell — convinced him to continue despite the injury.

Once the match was over Schell had to be helped off the mat by his coach and a trainer. Again the pain he was in could be seen on his face.

Schell said his strategy once the match resumed was to keep his head up high and “try to not get shot on.”

“The adrenaline kicked in right towards the end of the match,” he said. “I just said, ‘Screw it. I’m just going to go with it.’”

Schell expects to have an MRI Monday to diagnose the injury. He hopes that he will be able to compete in the district tournament, which begins Friday.