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PATIENCE AND PERSPECTIVE

Serious knee injury doesn’t deter Dodger junior Egli

Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Fort Dodge junior Levi Egli leans on his crutches and watches a play from the sidelines during the Dodgers’ state playoff game against West Des Moines Dowling in Des Moines.

Levi Egli reported to the Fort Dodge wrestling room for the first day of practice on Monday.

It’s a routine the junior knows well by now. As an upperclassman and 2018 fifth-place medalist at 160 pounds, this was to be the year Egli made a push toward championship contention.

Instead, Egli was in street clothes as the Dodgers officially began defense of their state title. It’s a role Egli has no choice but to embrace now, as he recovers from a gruesome knee injury suffered during the last football game of the regular season at Marshalltown.

“Sitting there, watching practice and my teammates, my brothers, I’ve worked with for so long — it was really tough,” said Egli, who had surgery to repair a fully torn ACL and partially torn LCL, PCL and biceps femoris tendon. “Coach (Bobby) Thompson talked to me about sticking around and still being a leader in the room, and taking on more of a coaching role for the younger guys on the team (as the year progresses).

“I still want to be there and do whatever I can to help (the program). But it’s hard to be in this position; I was really looking forward to competing and taking that next step. I’ll just have to do it in a different way now.”

The standout linebacker had been FDSH’s leading tackler during the Dodgers’ 7-2 campaign. Everything changed for Egli when he took an awkward hit to the knee during a kickoff return against the Bobcats, and a week later — during his program’s first-round playoff loss at five-time defending state champion West Des Moines Dowling — Egli was leaning on crutches and watching the action from afar, still wearing his No. 44 jersey while standing on the sidelines.

“Losing Levi was a blow to our defense, not just because of how productive he’d been, but given the kind of leader he’d become both on and off the field,” Fort Dodge football coach Matt Miller said. “No one works harder than Levi. He has a true passion for athletics and for being a Dodger. It’s one of those situations where your heart just breaks; as much as injuries are a part of the game, you hate to see it happen to a young man like that.”

Doctors have initially given Egli a six- to nine-month recovery gameplan, though everything remains fluid until the physical rehabilitation begins. Egli said he plans on being back on the football field by next August.

“I’ll be out there for my senior year,” Egli said. “Right now, it’s just about being patient and working my way back based on what the doctors are telling me — taking it one month, one week and one day at a time.”

Egli went 28-9 as a sophomore for the Dodger wrestling program, defeating fifth-ranked Alex Ward of Dubuque Hempstead in his final match to secure fifth place and help Fort Dodge earn its first state title on the mat in 33 years. Egli lost to eventual champ Nelson Brands — now a freshman at the University of Iowa — in the quarterfinals.

He carried that momentum into football and became a ubiquitous presence on the defensive side of the ball, garnering second team all-district honors.

The injury and diagnosis were difficult for Egli to process at first, but “the community really helped me through (the initial shock).”

“They’ve been super supportive, from teammates and friends stopping by through letters I’ve (received) telling me everything will be alright,” Egli said. “I can’t thank everyone enough.”

Egli’s family has also been “such a blessing through it all.” His oldest brother, Duke, was a star for the Dodgers who competed at Iowa State University, and another older brother, Jonah, also placed at state for FDSH before competing at Iowa Central.

“Not just (Duke and Jonah), but my mom and dad (Melissa and David), my older sisters (Abbi and Olivia), and my younger brothers (Ben and Jesse),” Egli said. “I’m really fortunate to be as close to them as I am.

“Not being out there the rest of this year will be tough, but it will make me hungrier. I’ll come back (in 2019-20) more ready than ever.”

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