‘I thought I was going to die’: NU’s Bubba Wilson overcomes frightful blood clot to get back on wrestling mat | Wrestling

Everything was on track for Bubba Wilson.

Coming off a redshirt season that saw him go 19-1, including four tournament titles, the Kansas native was ready to make his mark on the Nebraska wrestling starting lineup.

After taking his lumps and bruises from the varsity wrestlers the year before, Wilson was ready to deliver his own pain. Husker coach Mark Manning agreed, slotting in Wilson to start at 165 pounds before the shortened COVID-19 season began.

But as Wilson started training for the U.S. Open in early October 2020, he couldn’t shake a massive headache. One night as he was having some friends over to play cornhole, the headache got so excruciating that he had to lie down.

“I went to sleep on Friday night because the headaches were so bad,” Wilson said. “I ended up sleeping through Friday night and Saturday, and then my girlfriend woke me up Sunday night, and when she woke me up, I was like, ‘Something’s not right.'”

Wilson was a chubby baby; he’ll even admit that.

That’s how he got his nickname Bubba, despite his real first name being Clayton.

“I’m pretty sure it was because I was a fat baby,” he said. “My parents called me that and then growing up everyone called me Bubba.

“They didn’t even know my first name so I’ve just kind of been sticking with it.”

Wilson got involved with wrestling at an early age. Jubilant and excited at age 4, Wilson brought home a flyer advertising the local youth wrestling program. His parents, Glenn and Rachel, weren’t exactly sure at first as their only exposure to wrestling at that point was the TV-made WWE.

But after more thought, they let Wilson try. He was “decent at it.”

But wrestling wasn’t the only sport Wilson was juggling. As most small-town kids do, he played multiple sports including football and baseball. In fact, he originally wanted to play college football, but his focus always seemed to go toward wrestling.

After attending Rock Creek Middle school, which is about 15 miles northeast of Manhattan, Wilson transferred to Manhattan High School, where he would have better access to academics as well as better training partners and coaches.

But soon Wilson was in for an awakening. While he was still good enough to qualify for state his freshman year, his success on the big stage wasn’t where he wanted to be.

“I didn’t place my freshman year of high school state and it was kind of devastating,” Wilson said. “I wasn’t having the success I thought I should have, and to be honest, I almost quit.”

For Wilson, it was his dad who kept him at bay, preaching to his son that it takes patience to achieve what he wanted to achieve. Eventually, the heartbreak of not placing faded and training began.

Wilson hit the weights hard that summer, wrestling at more tournaments and finally adding more weight to his then-scrawny frame. He finished second at state his sophomore year, but despite the local success, it wasn’t where he wanted to be on the national scene.

His junior year is where Wilson first ran into Nebraska as he traveled up to Lincoln to take part in camps to train with college wrestlers who were preparing for tournaments such as the U23 World Championships and U.S. World Team Trials.

“His team all usually comes up for our team camps and we just saw him compete and he’s a hard-nosed kid,” Manning said. “We got to know him and got to know his character and he just comes from a great family. He’s got the attributes that we really like.”

From that point, Wilson shined, winning back-to-back state titles and earning a scholarship offer from the Huskers.

From nearly quitting the sport he loved to now earning a spot on his dream school, Wilson was ascending, and nothing seemed to be slowing him down.

After nearly two days of being asleep, Wilson and his girlfriend quickly made the trip back to Kansas, where he got a medical scan.

Wilson had a blood clot in his brain.

“I had to be transferred to Kansas City Medical Center immediately because it was pretty bad,” Wilson said. “It sucked because since it was during COVID, I couldn’t see my family.”

It was a dangerous and scary time for Wilson and his family as the doctors revealed it was one of the worst blood clots they had ever seen. The blood clot was located in the vein that ran straight to Wilson’s heart. Any physical activity could send the blood clot down to his heart, resulting in a heart attack.

It was a strenuous process; Wilson was sleeping for 22 to 23 hours a day, allowing a short time for him to eat and see his family before going down for another long nap.

“I was at the point where I thought I was going to die because they said it was one of the worst blood clots they have seen,” Wilson said. “I wasn’t really trying to focus on wrestling; I was just kind of trying to focus on surviving.

“It was extremely tough because one day I’m thinking, ‘Oh, I’m finally about to accomplish my dreams and start for the University of Nebraska.’ Then, the next day I’m on the bed and the nurses are telling me I have a blood clot in my brain. Then, I have to call the coaches and I kind of thought that was going to be my last phone call with the coaches.”

When Manning, his staff and Wilson’s teammate were told the news, they were heartbroken.

“Frightful, I was worried for Bubba’s life,” Manning said. “It was shocking and frightening to see a young man from, one week you see him and the next week he’s in a hospital and has a blood clot that might go to his heart any moment. It was unnerving.”

Wilson was in recovery for two months. He was let out but had to come back every few days to receive extreme blood thinners. At one point, doctors said he might be able to wrestle again.

And just his like freshman year of high school, Wilson was persistent and rejoined the team later that winter. That came full circle for him last weekend when Wilson upset No. 12 Cameron Amine of Michigan 5-3 for his first major college win.

“After the match, I just saw my family and my girlfriend going crazy and it didn’t really hit me for a second until I saw the coaches and they’re excited for me and Devaney going wild,” Wilson said. “Then, I was just happy because I always knew I could do it.

Wilson and the Huskers will host Illinois at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Devaney Sports Center.

* The Huskers lead the series with Illinois 8-4, and have won seven out of the past eight.

* The dual will potentially showcase five ranked bouts, including No. 4 Dylan Duncan of the Illini and No. 10 Chad Red for the Huskers.

* Nebraska has four wrestlers close to breaking the 100 career-win milestone as Mikey Labriola (96-33), Eric Schultz (95-39), Chad Red (93-41) and Christian Lance (94-35) are within striking distance.