Lucas: Wolf and Wohler travel similar paths back
November 04, 2022 | Football, Mike Lucas
Senior quarterback and sophomore safety ready to hit the field again
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. – Their paths would often cross at the crack of dawn in the Wisconsin training room – teammates grinding and straining and rehabbing from injuries – Chase Wolf, the fifth-year quarterback from Cincinnati, and Hunter Wohler, the second-year safety from Muskego.
"Hunter was kind of doing stuff the same time I was – he was a little bit ahead of me for awhile – we had different timetables," said Wolf, who was the No. 2 QB behind Graham Mertz before injuring his knee late in training camp and having surgery on the Monday leading up to the season opener.
"Sometimes that work in the training room gets really hard and guys like Hunter, Marty (Strey) or Tray (Travian Blaylock) would help me get through it when I was struggling with some rehab exercises. Each day I would try to achieve one goal. My mindset was just to get better at something."
All in all, he said, "I had to live in the moment. At the time when it happened, I wasn't really sure about my future. For the longest time I didn't know what my whole circumstance was – when I was coming back. I was locked in a brace for four weeks. I didn't know what it was like to walk without it."
Walking the walk was obviously tougher than talking the talk. Wohler and Wolf had their share of conversations. "And he was of the same mindset as me," said Wohler, bemoaning the timing of their injuries (his occurred in the opening game against Illinois State) and being out of action in general.
"But we had to do everything we could to get back and help this team out in any way possible."
With that uppermost in his thought process, Wohler had his own motivation: "It was just in my head, 'This is the game you love. This is what you've worked for. Every time you feel down just know that when you're fighting through this, it's ultimately going to make you better in the end.'"
Wohler and Wolf returned to practice last week and will be available for Saturday's game against Maryland at Camp Randall. Interim head coach/defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard is hoping to insert Wohler, who started the opener, into the safety rotation with John Torchio and Kamo'i Latu.
"Last week was huge for him – being able to hit the field a couple of times and not have to play on Saturday," Leonhard said. "He was able to get some reps, work through some things physically just to find out where he's at and the confidence he has in his leg and then step back for a couple of days …
"It's exciting when you add another piece that was a productive player in your defense and really had a huge fall camp and was really excited about what he was going to do this season. Now what's the best combination that we can use?
"We've had some great production out of Kamo'i and out of Torch, so it's finding the right balance with those guys down the stretch and hopefully it will help us keep them fresh and be able to rotate through a little bit like I traditionally do.
"I'm excited for the prospects of getting all three of them on the field at times."
Wohler had three tackles in his first career start before getting hurt in a 38-0 rout of Illinois State. "I knew something was wrong right away," he said. "It just didn't feel right, and it hurt obviously. I didn't think it was going to be this long of a process. But there's a reason for it all."
As a high school freshman, Wohler fractured the growth plate in his ankle. He was sidelined for 20 weeks. Addressing this latest rehab, he said, "Doubts definitely crept in. But you stay the course. You trust your coaches and trust the training staff that they're going to do what they can to help you out.
"And then, you trust yourself that you're going to be able to get back to full strength. There's a lot of frustrating stuff (not playing) … a helpless feeling a little bit … when you can't do anything to help the team, whether that's games or practices or everywhere in between."
During recovery, the challenge is universal. Don't get detached from the team. Or teammates.
"That was the biggest thing right when I got hurt – making sure I stayed around everyone, making sure I was able to be at every practice and at all the meetings," Wohler said. "I was able to tailor my workout schedule and my rehab schedule around that. I didn't want to feel detached.
"I wanted to be right there with the guys going through the stuff they were going through."
He pointed out, "There were a lot of other dudes" going through varying stages of their own rehab – whether it was Wolf or Strey or Blaylock or Aaron Witt or Preston Zachman (one of the safeties that got more snaps immediately after Wohler's injury before also getting hurt).
"You come in every day with them, do your rebab with them, workout with them," Wohler said of the painstaking, step-by-step routine and timeline that evolved. "They just keep you going every day. I'm extremely grateful for those guys who carried you through, even on your bad days."
His greatest support came from family. Mom and dad. "They were awesome," Wohler said. "They would check on me every day or every other day to make sure I was doing all right. The biggest thing they were worried about was the mental side; the toll it can take not doing the thing you love.
"They were amazing helping me every way possible. When the guys went on the road, I went back home two Friday nights and watched my sister play volleyball. That was a blessing. Just to get out of town for 24 hours and get a break from doing the same thing every day was really nice."
His UW roommates/teammates were equally supportive: Owen Arnett and Grover Bortolotti. "They were there for me the entire way," he said. "Whenever I needed somebody to talk to or help when I wasn't able to walk, they were unbelievably amazing in aiding me in whatever way they could."
Wohler was grateful. Still is. Beyond his turning point. "That was probably two or three weeks ago," he said, "when I was able to start running on an AlterG treadmill that takes the weight off your body. It was like, 'All right, I can do this. I've got the strength back. I'm getting a little closer."'
That was the backdrop to practicing last week. Wohler couldn't help but think, "I'm back."'
There's so much reassurance in those words. Just ask Wolf about turning his own corner.
"As soon as I got the knee brace off the Monday after Ohio State (Sept. 24), I was able to walk without it and I felt a lot more normal," said Wolf, who exaggerated dragging his leg. "I had to walk around like this for weeks. I had to adjust my walking because my hips were kind of out of line."
Besides ankle sprains in high school, Wolf had never been seriously injured. "Never tore anything, never broke a bone," he said, also falling back on family. "My parents were great. They visited me after my surgery and stayed with me for a couple of days. They were really supportive."
Wolf derived motivation from his sister Shaye, who tore her ACL last year playing high school volleyball for Mount Notre Dame. But the injury didn't define her. It only increased her resourcefulness to get back for her senior year and she wound up earning a scholarship to Florida Atlantic.
Shaye Wolf was told that she'd be out six to nine months. She got back in five.
"I felt sorry for myself the first day," Wolf said of his own injury. "But after that, I thought, 'I have to beat her. I have to come back quicker. If she can do it, I can do it.' I'm always competitive with my sisters (Sabrina played volleyball at Cincinnati and Stevie at Xavier). She was an inspiration for me."
On feeling detached, he said, "Initially, I did because I wasn't able to go to meetings or practice the first week. After that, I'd watch practice from up there (pointing to the football offices in Camp Randall). Once I was able to get on the field more, I felt more like I was with the team.
"Graham (Mertz) and I do a good job of helping each other. All the quarterbacks have done a good job of including me. I haven't felt left out or anything. Coach Leonhard comes into the training room every single day. He keeps us involved as much as possible, so we don't feel isolated."
Wolf's roommate, Mike Gregoire, a backup wide receiver, was invaluable to his rehab. Especially given his early limitations in moving around. Also pitching in was former Badger safety Collin Wilder, who drove him to the hospital for his surgery and picked him up. "Everybody has been so great," Wolf said.
While admitting to "feeling a little rusty" after Tuesday's practice, Wolf insisted, "I feel pretty good. My knee feels good. My arm feels strong. I'm fully ready to go if I have to." But what might his future look like in the sport? Might it include another season of college football?
"I think I have a sixth year available," Wolf said. "I'm trying to think it through. I'm undecided. I have to talk with my parents and talk to the coaches and see what's best for me. There were questions at the time (of the injury) if I should take a medical. But I never even considered it.
"I wanted to get back as soon as possible, and I'll figure out that stuff later."
Wohler did figure out something during his rehab. Something he already knew.
"It's tough … it always is when you get hurt and you've got to miss a lot more time than you'd like to," he said. "But being around the guys, it's another opportunity to grow mentally and grow your relationships with everyone. When you're playing, you don't always get to have those conversations.
"So, it's an opportunity to meet with coaches more and grow your mental part of the game.
"That way, when you come back, you can put it all out there."
In his own words, "I'm back. It's time to get back to work and have fun." Echoed by Wolf.
Â
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. – Their paths would often cross at the crack of dawn in the Wisconsin training room – teammates grinding and straining and rehabbing from injuries – Chase Wolf, the fifth-year quarterback from Cincinnati, and Hunter Wohler, the second-year safety from Muskego.
"Hunter was kind of doing stuff the same time I was – he was a little bit ahead of me for awhile – we had different timetables," said Wolf, who was the No. 2 QB behind Graham Mertz before injuring his knee late in training camp and having surgery on the Monday leading up to the season opener.
"Sometimes that work in the training room gets really hard and guys like Hunter, Marty (Strey) or Tray (Travian Blaylock) would help me get through it when I was struggling with some rehab exercises. Each day I would try to achieve one goal. My mindset was just to get better at something."
All in all, he said, "I had to live in the moment. At the time when it happened, I wasn't really sure about my future. For the longest time I didn't know what my whole circumstance was – when I was coming back. I was locked in a brace for four weeks. I didn't know what it was like to walk without it."
Walking the walk was obviously tougher than talking the talk. Wohler and Wolf had their share of conversations. "And he was of the same mindset as me," said Wohler, bemoaning the timing of their injuries (his occurred in the opening game against Illinois State) and being out of action in general.
"But we had to do everything we could to get back and help this team out in any way possible."
With that uppermost in his thought process, Wohler had his own motivation: "It was just in my head, 'This is the game you love. This is what you've worked for. Every time you feel down just know that when you're fighting through this, it's ultimately going to make you better in the end.'"
Wohler and Wolf returned to practice last week and will be available for Saturday's game against Maryland at Camp Randall. Interim head coach/defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard is hoping to insert Wohler, who started the opener, into the safety rotation with John Torchio and Kamo'i Latu.
"Last week was huge for him – being able to hit the field a couple of times and not have to play on Saturday," Leonhard said. "He was able to get some reps, work through some things physically just to find out where he's at and the confidence he has in his leg and then step back for a couple of days …
"It's exciting when you add another piece that was a productive player in your defense and really had a huge fall camp and was really excited about what he was going to do this season. Now what's the best combination that we can use?
"We've had some great production out of Kamo'i and out of Torch, so it's finding the right balance with those guys down the stretch and hopefully it will help us keep them fresh and be able to rotate through a little bit like I traditionally do.
"I'm excited for the prospects of getting all three of them on the field at times."
Wohler had three tackles in his first career start before getting hurt in a 38-0 rout of Illinois State. "I knew something was wrong right away," he said. "It just didn't feel right, and it hurt obviously. I didn't think it was going to be this long of a process. But there's a reason for it all."
As a high school freshman, Wohler fractured the growth plate in his ankle. He was sidelined for 20 weeks. Addressing this latest rehab, he said, "Doubts definitely crept in. But you stay the course. You trust your coaches and trust the training staff that they're going to do what they can to help you out.
"And then, you trust yourself that you're going to be able to get back to full strength. There's a lot of frustrating stuff (not playing) … a helpless feeling a little bit … when you can't do anything to help the team, whether that's games or practices or everywhere in between."
During recovery, the challenge is universal. Don't get detached from the team. Or teammates.
"That was the biggest thing right when I got hurt – making sure I stayed around everyone, making sure I was able to be at every practice and at all the meetings," Wohler said. "I was able to tailor my workout schedule and my rehab schedule around that. I didn't want to feel detached.
"I wanted to be right there with the guys going through the stuff they were going through."
He pointed out, "There were a lot of other dudes" going through varying stages of their own rehab – whether it was Wolf or Strey or Blaylock or Aaron Witt or Preston Zachman (one of the safeties that got more snaps immediately after Wohler's injury before also getting hurt).
"You come in every day with them, do your rebab with them, workout with them," Wohler said of the painstaking, step-by-step routine and timeline that evolved. "They just keep you going every day. I'm extremely grateful for those guys who carried you through, even on your bad days."
His greatest support came from family. Mom and dad. "They were awesome," Wohler said. "They would check on me every day or every other day to make sure I was doing all right. The biggest thing they were worried about was the mental side; the toll it can take not doing the thing you love.
"They were amazing helping me every way possible. When the guys went on the road, I went back home two Friday nights and watched my sister play volleyball. That was a blessing. Just to get out of town for 24 hours and get a break from doing the same thing every day was really nice."
His UW roommates/teammates were equally supportive: Owen Arnett and Grover Bortolotti. "They were there for me the entire way," he said. "Whenever I needed somebody to talk to or help when I wasn't able to walk, they were unbelievably amazing in aiding me in whatever way they could."
Wohler was grateful. Still is. Beyond his turning point. "That was probably two or three weeks ago," he said, "when I was able to start running on an AlterG treadmill that takes the weight off your body. It was like, 'All right, I can do this. I've got the strength back. I'm getting a little closer."'
That was the backdrop to practicing last week. Wohler couldn't help but think, "I'm back."'
There's so much reassurance in those words. Just ask Wolf about turning his own corner.
"As soon as I got the knee brace off the Monday after Ohio State (Sept. 24), I was able to walk without it and I felt a lot more normal," said Wolf, who exaggerated dragging his leg. "I had to walk around like this for weeks. I had to adjust my walking because my hips were kind of out of line."
Besides ankle sprains in high school, Wolf had never been seriously injured. "Never tore anything, never broke a bone," he said, also falling back on family. "My parents were great. They visited me after my surgery and stayed with me for a couple of days. They were really supportive."
Wolf derived motivation from his sister Shaye, who tore her ACL last year playing high school volleyball for Mount Notre Dame. But the injury didn't define her. It only increased her resourcefulness to get back for her senior year and she wound up earning a scholarship to Florida Atlantic.
Shaye Wolf was told that she'd be out six to nine months. She got back in five.
"I felt sorry for myself the first day," Wolf said of his own injury. "But after that, I thought, 'I have to beat her. I have to come back quicker. If she can do it, I can do it.' I'm always competitive with my sisters (Sabrina played volleyball at Cincinnati and Stevie at Xavier). She was an inspiration for me."
On feeling detached, he said, "Initially, I did because I wasn't able to go to meetings or practice the first week. After that, I'd watch practice from up there (pointing to the football offices in Camp Randall). Once I was able to get on the field more, I felt more like I was with the team.
"Graham (Mertz) and I do a good job of helping each other. All the quarterbacks have done a good job of including me. I haven't felt left out or anything. Coach Leonhard comes into the training room every single day. He keeps us involved as much as possible, so we don't feel isolated."
Wolf's roommate, Mike Gregoire, a backup wide receiver, was invaluable to his rehab. Especially given his early limitations in moving around. Also pitching in was former Badger safety Collin Wilder, who drove him to the hospital for his surgery and picked him up. "Everybody has been so great," Wolf said.
While admitting to "feeling a little rusty" after Tuesday's practice, Wolf insisted, "I feel pretty good. My knee feels good. My arm feels strong. I'm fully ready to go if I have to." But what might his future look like in the sport? Might it include another season of college football?
"I think I have a sixth year available," Wolf said. "I'm trying to think it through. I'm undecided. I have to talk with my parents and talk to the coaches and see what's best for me. There were questions at the time (of the injury) if I should take a medical. But I never even considered it.
"I wanted to get back as soon as possible, and I'll figure out that stuff later."
Wohler did figure out something during his rehab. Something he already knew.
"It's tough … it always is when you get hurt and you've got to miss a lot more time than you'd like to," he said. "But being around the guys, it's another opportunity to grow mentally and grow your relationships with everyone. When you're playing, you don't always get to have those conversations.
"So, it's an opportunity to meet with coaches more and grow your mental part of the game.
"That way, when you come back, you can put it all out there."
In his own words, "I'm back. It's time to get back to work and have fun." Echoed by Wolf.
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