‘Very Thankful:’ North’s Thornton to wrestle at state after health scare at semistate

Columbus North’s Justice Thornton is declared the winner over Jennings County’s Lane Kirchner in the 132-pound weight class during a meet at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023.

The Republic file photo

Justice Thornton’s road to his first Wrestling State Finals took a detour off course Saturday afternoon, but things are still in place for him this week.

The Columbus North sophomore sustained a medical emergency during his semifinal match in the Evansville Semistate. During his battle with Brownsburg’s Brady Ison, Ison was trying a “bundle” move, and Thornton’s arm got pinned against his throat.

Thornton lost consciousness before waking up with his family and coach Matt Joyce by his side. He was taken to a nearby hospital for tests and had to forfeit his third-place match later in the day.

“I woke up and didn’t really know what happened,” Thornton said. “He cut off the blood flow to my brain. I wake up and found out that they called the pin after they asked me all the questions. The thing that really hurt was finding out that I wouldn’t be able to wrestle the rest of the day.”

Since the top four in each weight class advance to state, Thornton already had qualified by advancing to the semifinals.

“After he was back conscious and he was answering questions and everything, it was pretty clear that he was going to be OK,” Joyce said. “He did have some pain on his spine, but most of that was from being torqued in that position. That was really the big precautionary part of taking him out and going to the hospital. We were just making sure that was all OK.”

Justice Thornton

Because he finished fourth, Thornton will be matched up against a semistate champion in Friday’s first round at state. The 18th-ranked Thornton (39-3) will face seventh-ranked Easton Doster of New Haven (22-0) on Friday. A win would guarantee him three matches on Saturday and a medal with a top-eight finish.

“I’m happy with the draw,” Thornton said. “It’s probably the easiest draw I could have gotten. I think my chances are great. If I just go out there and wrestle like I did this weekend, I should be fine.”

“I think all things considered, I’m just glad he’s getting to wrestle this weekend,” Joyce added. “We’re both just grateful to be wrestling and that everything turned out as well as it did, and we’ll go make the best of what we’ve got.”

Thornton said he wasn’t worried that he might not be able to compete at state.

“I didn’t have a doubt,” Thornton said. “A couple people thought I might have had a concussion. Doctors didn’t, but kids from other schools kind of thought I had a concussion. But I knew I was OK. I just had to get checked out and make sure that everything was OK.”

Columbus North’s Justice Thornton, in black, wrestles against Jennings County’s Lane Kirchner, in blue, in the 132-pound weight class during a meet at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023.

The Republic file photo

On Monday, Thornton was back at practice. He said he was a little sore, mostly from the IVs that had been inserted into his arm on Saturday.

Thornton, who fell one win short of making it to state as a freshman last season, is only the second Bull Dog wrestler to qualify for state in the past decade and the first since Brigham Kleinhenz in 2018.

“It’s a great feeling going to state,” Thornton said. “I’m very thankful. I’m very happy that I’m still able to wrestle. My dad was worried there for a minute, but I think deep down, we all knew that I was going to be OK.”