LEROY — All things considered, Jericho Holmes is in a good spot.
After a scary end to his high school wrestling career last month, things are looking better for the Pine River High School senior.
So much so that he’s focused on the next step — collegiate wrestling.
Holmes signed his letter of intent with Lake Erie College on Wednesday afternoon and will join the NCAA Division II school in Painesville, Ohio this fall.
Entering the middle of February, things were going well for Holmes.
He had an overall record of 44-2 and had just won an MHSAA Division 4 Individual Wrestling district title.
Then he got sick.
Eventually, it led medical personnel to find he had an enlarged spleen that was pushing up against one of his kidneys. Contact in the wrong area could have ruptured the spleen and that’s a life-threatening medical issue.
It forced Holmes to miss three weeks of school — and the rest of the state tournament. He just returned to school this past week.
“It was devastating,” he said. “It’s an unimaginable feeling that’s hard to put into words. I asked myself am I really about to do this again?”
Holmes talked with doctors, his family and his college coaches. Heartbroken, he decided not being in the state tournament was the best move for him.
“It’s a tournament and it’s not the end of my career,” Holmes said. “Everyone knows what I am capable of and I fully believe I would have won a state title.
“It definitely helped having the support of everyone backing me.”
Going forward, Holmes is on a specialized diet of no artificial dyes, sweeteners, belly meat or anything raw.
Holmes said there’s a risk of it happening again but, if he takes care of himself, everything should be OK.
Holmes found his way to Lake Erie College at a wrestling tournament last summer where he competed against a team that was coached by the Storm’s head man — John Penfold.
Holmes beat a kid Penfold was coaching, it led to a conversation, he visited the school located northeast of Cleveland and found where he wanted to be.
He also looked at Central Michigan, Grand Valley State and Wabash College.
“(Lake Erie) was nationally ranked this year and ended up at No. 19,” Holmes said. “They’ve got a kid competing in DII nationals right now.”
Holmes started wrestling when he was just 3-years-old and this has been a lifelong dream to compete in college at the sport he loves.
“As I got older, I realized I had a thing for it so I’ve always wanted to wrestle in college,” Holmes said. “I am excited and nervous…and looking forward to the next step.”
Holmes plans to play baseball and compete in track and field this spring at Pine River before getting busy in June with wrestling.
He and a couple of other Lake Erie recruits will compete in U-23 Nationals together this summer.
As for a major, Holmes plans to go pre-law before heading to law school with the goal of becoming a corporate lawyer.