Chris WatsonBut national titles and post-season accolades meant nothing on March 24 when Watson was diagnosed with a massive blood clot in his right arm and shoulder. Two surgeries in a three-day span were required to remove eight inches of total blockage in the area and both delicate procedures were a total success, with Watson receiving 100 percent clearance from his doctors just last Friday.
"As unfortunate as the circumstances were, a lot of things happened that allowed me to be alive today," Watson said. "By the grace of God, a lot of things went right for me when they could have gone so bad."
The clot actually existed during the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championships March 13-14 in St. Louis, Mo., having started to form after Watson took a knee to the shoulder during practice two weeks earlier. Arm weakness hampered the senior standout throughout the tournament, though he didn't know why.
"At nationals it wasn't painful, but I'd get a leg or be riding somebody and it was like my muscles didn't have any urgency to go," Watson said. "I didn't feel like I had that same energy, that same attack I had all season. It was hard for me to hold onto stuff for a prolonged period or to grip anything for a long time."
Watson would have obviously been sidelined for the national tournament had the potentially fatal blood clot been diagnosed earlier.
"They (doctors) would have shut me down before nationals if we had known about it," said Watson, who turned 24 the day after the national tournament. "There was a risk of the blood clot traveling to the brain, the heart or the lungs if it had broken loose. It's not that I can say I was heroic because I didn't know about it and just thought it was the wear and tear of the season.
"I didn't lose my life and was able to get a national title and win this great award so it ended up working out, but I'm more than fortunate that it did."
A native of Andover, Kan., Watson captured four regular season tournaments and then outscored eight opponents a combined 54-8 in winning the regional and national titles, earning Outstanding Wrestler honors at the national meet. He was a three-time All-American for the Bronchos and finished with a 130-28 career record to rank sixth on the UCO's all-time win list, including a school-record 36 major decisions.
Watson is the eighth recipient of the NCAA Division II Wrestler of the Year award that was voted on by the Division II head coaches. He collected 22 of the 47 first-place votes cast and ended with 138 points, nine ahead of Kutztown heavyweight Ziad Haddad. Central Missouri 149-pounder Frank Cagnina and North Carolina-Pembroke 141-pounder Daniel Ownbey were the other two finalists.
Previous winners of the award were Nebraska-Kearney heavyweight Tervel Dlagnev (2008), Nebraska-Omaha 157-pounder Todd Meneely (2009), Pittsburgh-Johnstown 133-pounder Shane Valko (2010), Western State 197-pounder Donovan McMahill (2011), Upper Iowa 133-pounder Trevor Franklin (2012), Grand Canyon heavyweight Tyrell Fortune (2013) and Kutztown heavyweight Ziad Haddad (2014).
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