Doctors said no. Brandon O'Brikis said yes.
Tournament officials said no. The Seward senior said yes.
And after a wild week, O'Brikis showed everybody why he wanted to compete.
Incapacitated from a spider bite suffered a week ago today, O'Brikis finally succumbed to the wound on Friday, spending the day on IVs in the hospital while undergoing a medical procedure to help ease the pain.
Less than 24 hours later, though, the 215-pounder was claiming his third consecutive Kachemak Conference championship at Nikiski High School.
"At times," O'Brikis said of thinking he wouldn't be able to wrestle, "because (Friday) it was kind of sore. It was hard to walk. My coach rigged up a knee pad for me (Saturday). It did the job."
With a week of practice looming in preparation for the conference tournament, O'Brikis awoke Sunday morning to find his knee swelling up.
Prescribed antibiotics and told to return to the hospital if it got bigger, he unfortunately had to follow the doctor's orders.
"I came in and it was huge," he said. "And they cut it open and drained it out."
Diagnosed as a bite from a spider, which possibly occurred in his sleep, O'Brikis said he now has a one-inch hole in his knee.
And when informed he shouldn't be wrestling, O'Brikis, who has just one loss this season, had other plans.
"They told me not to. But I told them I couldn't do that because I got state. This is my shot at state, to go to state," he said. "They said, 'It's your knee.'"
That wasn't the end of his problems, though, as tournament officials on Saturday believed it could be contagious, requiring him to sign releases saying otherwise.
"My coach had me fill out a whole lot of ASAA forms on how it wasn't contagious and stuff so that I could wrestle," O'Brikis said.
Finally, he was able to hit the mat.
And when he did, O'Brikis didn't seem to have any trouble.
He pinned Julian Poluskin of Voznesenka in 11 seconds, then needed only 18 seconds to pin ACS's Chase Warren before winning a hard-fought 10-7 decision over Seldovia's Jordan Gaegle in the championship match.
"I had some adrenaline going," he said of forgetting about the pain. "It's going away, but it's coming back, too."
The hardest part, O'Brikis said, wasn't dealing with the injury. It was missing a week of practice.
"That was the worst thing," he said. "After that whole week, it just drained me."
The rest of the Seahawks obviously benefited from their week of practice.
Picking ACS to claim the team title by a landslide, Seward coach Ronn Hemstock was shocked at how well his team performed, finishing second to the Lions by just 14 points and ahead of third-place Grace Christian by 37.
"We wrestled out of our heads. We really did well," he said. "A couple of guys didn't, but other guys came out of nowhere and wrestled above themselves. So, it was kind of exciting."
Also capturing region crowns for the Seahawks were Scott Reierson (119 pounds), Dylan Beck (152) and Alan Logan (189), while Brenton Meier (112) and Jonas Romero (HVY) placed second and Matt Nyholm (145), Koal Backlund (160) and Kyle Kain (HVY) all took third.
Meier and Romero making the finals was especially sweet considering both had never wrestled prior to this season.
"They didn't know anything 10 weeks ago. They were greenhorns," Hemstock said. "They came a long way."
So has O'Brikis, who placed fifth in the state as a heavyweight his sophomore season and then second at 215 last year, losing 5-4 when he was penalized for four consecutive stalling points in the final 30 seconds.
"I was bummed. That's what I worked for all year and it just got taken right away from me by the refs," he said. "It's helped me a lot this year. That's all I've been thinking about is state. So, I'm looking forward to state in Sitka."
As for his knee, he doesn't foresee that hindering him at all.
"I think the knee will be fine," O'Brikis said. "I'm on enough drugs and stuff so hopefully it will clear up by Friday."
Also looking forward to Friday is Nikiski, which is sending six grapplers to the state meet despite boasting no region champions.
"The tournament was tougher than expected," said Bulldogs' coach Lucas Peless. "There were some surprises, some kids that haven't been wrestling all season from other teams that came out here. 0-0 records came out here and they were kind of a ringer."
Matt Parker (103), Stony Wall (135) and Karl Buccholz (152) all placed second while Nathan Stangel (112), Ancel Ware (140) and Josh Vance (171) all claimed third.
"No champions, but they're feeling good about it. They're excited. They're ready to go to state," Peless said. "They really want to show what they can do at state."
Peless believes taking second at the conference meet can sometimes be better than actually winning it.
"I think placing second actually gives them a better edge. You have nothing to lose," he explained. "First-place kid has got everything to lose now. He's got the top seed from our region and he's expected. These kids can go out and can have fun wrestling and the pressure's off of them."
There's very little pressure for Ninilchik senior Austin Vanderford (160), who was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler after pinning his way through the tournament for a region crown.
"I'm really excited to go state and wrestle," he said. "It kind of sucks, though, because this is my last tournament of the year."
Vanderford is looking to defend his state championship from last season, which he won at 152 pounds, after taking sixth as a freshman and again as a sophomore.
"It hasn't really been as tough as I thought it would be," he said of people gunning for him this year. "It has been tough, but I've just worked a lot harder this year than I even did last year. Just staying after practice later, doing things in the morning, just working out a lot more.
"I'm pretty confident," Vanderford added. "But it'll be tough because I never doubt my opponents."
Also making the journey to Sitka for the state tourney will be Seldovia's Timothy O'Leary (171) and Gaegle, who both placed second, Ninilchik's Taylor Sutherland (125), who took third, and Voznesenka's lone region champion, Joe Martushev (135) and teammate Leo Polushkin (215), who took third.
Matthew Carroll can be reached at matthew.carroll@peninsulaclarion.com.
Kachemak Conference Tournament
At Nikiski High School
Saturday
Team scores: 1. ACS, 175; 2. Seward, 161; 3. Grace Christian, 124; 4. Nikiski, 106; 5. Ninilchik, 61.5; 6. Voznesenka, 52; 7. Seldovia, 40; 8. Cook Inlet Academy, 14.
Championship matches
103 Charters, ACS, maj. dec. Parker, Nik, 15-7
112 C. Neace, ACS, p. Meier, Sew, 2:59
119 Reierson, Sew, p. Sutter, Gra, 3:22
125 J. Neace, ACS, won by forfeit over M. Baker, ACS
130 J. Baker, ACS, p. Wirick, Gra, 1:25
135 Martushev, Voz, dec. Wall, Nik, 12-9
140 Miller, ACS, won by forfeit over Bowden, ACS
145 Walls, Gra, won by forfeit over West, Gra
152 Beck, Sew, dec. Buccholz, Nik, 7-2
160 Vanderford, Nin, p. Dyson, ACS, 1:35
171 Alley, Gra, dec. O'Leary, Sel, 9-5
189 Logan, Sew, p. Birky, Gra, 3:52
215 O'Brikis, Sew, dec. Gaegle, Sel, 10-7
HVY Whitley, ACS, t.f. Romero, Sew, 20-2
Third-place matches
103 Hunn, Gra, p. Gilroy, ACS, 3:18
112 Stangel, Nik, dec. Reutov, Voz, 10-4
119 Hoch, ACS, p. James, Nin, :46
125 Satherland, Nin, t.f. Harbick, Nik, 15-0
130 Laurion, ACS, dec. Klapak, Nin, 13-6
135 Sweetsir, ACS, dec. Skjold, Nin, 8-7
140 Ware, Nik, dec. Zweifel, Sew, 12-6
145 Nyholm, Sew, dec. Tuttle, Nik, 4-3
152 Ward, Gra, p. Cialek, CIA, 1:40
160 Backlund, Sew, p. Z. Martushev, Voz, 1:19
171 Vance, Nik, maj. dec. Markowitz, Sew, 12-2
189 McCaffrey, ACS, p. Berg, ACS, 3:22
215 L. Polushkin, Voz, p. Warren, ACS, :32
HVY Kain, Sew, won by default
High School Sports