Sidelined

A promising athletic career has been cut short at Creston Community High School.

Sophomore Kolby Hulett, an all-district linebacker on the football team and a returning state qualifier in wrestling, is done with contact sports because of a recently-diagnosed congenital abnormality in his cervical spine.

Hulett, son of Chuck and Tami Hulett, recently advised wrestling coach Cody Downing and football coach Brian Morrison of the findings by specialists in Des Moines of his increased risk of neurological injury. He has also been a member of the Panther baseball team and is likely unable to continue that career, as well.

Currently, Hulett is considering athletic competition through a non-contact spring sport such as golf or tennis.

Hulett first began noticing symptoms associated with a curvature in his upper vertebrae during the past football season. Back pain persisted and became almost debilitating during the first two weeks of this wrestling season, when his family sought medical assistance.

By mid-December, test results clearly showed he had a condition that could be considered dangerous, particularly in his standout sports of football and wrestling.

"It started with lower back pain and I had some stingers down my arm during football," Hulett said.

Having earned a starting position in the second game of the season, Hulett didn't bring that pain to anyone's attention for fear of losing playing time. He worked through it during football. But, soon that was too difficult in wrestling.

"In the preseason there was pain that started going up higher in my back," Hulett said. "It was sharp pains, and I really noticed it after our first meet at Greenfield."

Wrestling up a weight class at 152 pounds, Hulett lost a close decision. Both Downing and Kolby's father noticed something didn't look right.

"I didn't see the style of wrestling I was used to seeing from him," Chuck Hulett said. "I knew something wasn't right."

"He didn't look like himself at Greenfield," Downing added. "The next day he could hardly walk. I kept asking, are you injured or just hurting? We thought possibly it was a muscle pull or a strain of some sort. We were trying to work through it with ice and heat."

Through his experience wrestling at Simpson College, Downing became familiar with Dr. Kevin Miller, a former NCAA Division III national champion at Wartburg College who has served as the U.S. Olympic team's chiropractor. He told Miller about his wrestler experiencing back issues and asked if he could see him.

"Dr. Miller originally said he was way out of alignment and he worked on him and should be good to go for that weekend at Dallas Center-Grimes," Downing related. "Then he called later after looking closer at the X-ray and said to hold him out, that some things didn't look right. He had a neurosurgeon contact and they lined up an appointment. I kept thinking that maybe we'll eventually get him back."

Hulett went through a gamut of examinations involving more X-rays, CT scan and MRI. There was some grim news, but also relief that such a dangerous condition was caught before it was too late.

"Where his vertebrae comes up to his neck, it angles over instead of going straight up," Chuck Hulett explained. "There is a bone missing in the first vertebrae. And, since it's angled the way that it is, the C1 and C2 are fused together, and the C4 and C5 are fused together. That's why his range of motion from side to side hasn't ever been good."

Tough decision

Kolby and his parents met with neurosurgeon Dr. Nicholas Wetjen of the Iowa Clinic in Des Moines. Kolby was described as having a minimal risk of paralysis from sports activity, but higher than a person with a normal spinal structure. He said future participation would be up to the family.

"I asked him, if it was your kid, what would you do?" Chuck Hulett said. "He said, 'I'll guarantee he would not ever play a contact sport again.' When Kolby saw the X-ray he said we don't need to get a second opinion. He said he could see what was going on."

"I told them all along I was going to respect their decision," Downing said, "because I have two boys of my own. I get it. The family doesn't owe this program more than they've already given over the years. I was on the staff as upper weight coach working with Keaton and Kadon. I'm close with the family, so it's tough to even talk about without becoming emotional."

That's a huge disappointment for a talented athlete, whose older brothers Keaton and Kadon placed first and second, respectively, in state tournament wrestling. Both also began football careers at Northwest Missouri State before Keaton was sidelined by two labrum surgeries in his shoulder and Kadon suffered a serious concussion on the third day of his first preseason practice period. There was evidence of repeated concussions, and like Keaton, Kadon opted to end his career.

As it turned out, both older brothers provided some sound counseling about the perspective of long-term health.

"The night we got back from the doctor Keat was hunting around Diagonal and I rode down with dad to see him," Kolby said. "We talked on the way home. Basically, he just said he wanted me to be able to walk. I want to do things when I grow up like play with my kids, and do the outdoor things we've always done together like hunting and fishing."

Keaton asked Kolby if he would truly continue playing to his fullest potential with the knowledge of the risk involved.

"I knew I wouldn't," Kolby admitted.

Kolby realizes he's been fortunate to avoid catastrophic injury, especially in his varsity football debut as a 5-10, 155-pound sophomore.

"I was dealing with 6-5, 300-pound men," he said. "And to think of the amount of times my brothers messed with me, I don't know how nothing happened!"

"It's a really hard decision, but when you think about the big picture, there's a lot more to it," Tami said. "We want him with us healthy and be able to have his own kids. He was born with this and we just had no clue."

Since he stopped wrestling, the pain has largely subsided.

"Today I actually feel good," Kolby said Monday afternoon. "Every so often I'm just sore."

Student coach

All of his coaches have reached out to Kolby and asked him to stay involved. He was 35-14 as a freshman wrestler, just one victory away from placing in the state tournament. In football he was the team leader with 64 total tackles as an inside linebacker, with eight solo tackles for loss. He earned all-district second-team honors and was also a backup running back.

"Yes, it's taking a mainstay out of our lineup for the next three years, but the first thing I talked about was trying to replace that type of leadership," Downing said. "That sophomore class is really good, and he's one of the more vocal leaders. I'd love for him to be like a student coach, with another set of eyes. He can recite what we're teaching pretty well. I'll let him do whatever he and the family allow him to do."

Morrison has a similar plan for the next football season.

"He was a special player for us with a lot of the same traits as Trevor Frain, in terms of being a special player at that position as a sophomore," Morrison said. "But in his situation, it's not a risk worth taking. He's going to help us out with the linebackers on defense and running backs on offense. There are a lot of intangibles he brings to our practices, our film room, everything we do. He'll still be a part of it."

Kolby's association with the baseball team goes back to his days as a batboy for the teams his older brothers played on under coach BIrchard.

"I told him he's been involved with us for a long time, and regardless of whether he plays or not that I would love to have him with us in some capacity," Birchard said.

"The coaches here are compassionate," Tami said. "They know what he's put into it. They are willing to be there and help him through it, just like we are as a family."

For Kolby, it's all part of trying to stay connected with his peers in activities close to his heart.

"I want to be there, I want to be involved," Kolby said. "I want to push people. I don't really want this to be a negative and bring others down. I think it would be worse if I wasn't involved in things. Then it would be easier to be negative."