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UIHC doc promised wrestler: ‘You can get back to where you were — if not better’
‘I wasn't doing well. I had kind of shut down.’
Sep. 21, 2025 5:30 am
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CORALVILLE — In the semifinals of the 2024 Iowa high school state wrestling tournament — having started the sport just a year prior — freshman Eve Skrocki was knocking on the door to the finals, up 1-0 in the third period, when she felt three pops in her elbow.
“Rewatching the video, it goes in, out, to the left and then back in — so it was pretty bad,” Skrocki, 16, of Dubuque, said. “But I think because of the adrenaline I had during the match, I didn't realize how bad it hurt and how bad it really was.”
She would learn soon enough, forfeiting the tournament — being held in Coralville’s Xtream Arena — and rushing to nearby University of Iowa Health Care, where ER doctors suspected a ligament tear, although they couldn’t immediately perform an MRI to confirm.
Instead, Skrocki left that day in a sling and got the imaging done back in Dubuque with local providers, who sent the results to UIHC.
“The day my parents found out it was torn, my dad had an appointment with Dr. Wolf,” Skrocki said of UIHC orthopedic surgeon Brian Wolf, who — in addition to seeing patients in clinic — serves as head team physician for UI Athletics and vice chair of operations and strategic planning for the Department of Orthopedics.
Earlier this month, he was named interim department head while UIHC conducts a national search for a permanent replacement. But back in February 2024, Wolf was with Skrocki’s dad as he learned his daughter tore her ulnar collateral ligament — the same injury that in 2023 sidelined NFL quarterback and former Iowa State University footballer Brock Purdy.
“They begged Dr. Wolf to get me in,” Skrocki said. “They were like, please, she just needs to wrestle. They knew I wasn't doing well. I had kind of shut down. And so he got me in the next day.”
And Wolf spelled out two paths. Wait and see whether it heels on its own in six to eight weeks — delaying surgery if it doesn’t. Or jump straight to surgery now and accept a six- to nine-month recovery.
Skrocki opted for the sure-thing and scheduled a March 16 surgical repair with internal bracing — a technique developed in 2013 as an alternative to the more conventional “Tommy John” surgery.
“I was at state basketball on Feb. 25 when my mom called me, and she was like, ‘Hey, Dr. Wolf just called. They have an opening for surgery on Feb. 29. Do you want to do it?’” Skrocki said.
She agreed to the new leap year date and was back at practice three days later.
“I wasn't like wrestling or anything,” said Skrocki, who trains and competes for Big Game Wrestling Club in North Liberty. “But I was doing footwork, working on the mental side of things — stance in motion and just trying to strengthen other parts of me that I didn't realize needed strengthening.”
From the low of her injury and the doubt of her recovery, Skrocki credits Dr. Wolf’s skill and confident positivity for her rebound both physically and mentally.
“He was like, ‘You can get back to where you were — if not better than that’,” Skrocki said. “And so just through talking to him at my appointments and realizing that there's good that came out of it, I was able to turn my mindset around. And I actually think all the work that I did while I didn't have my arm made me the wrestler I am today.”
And she’s a pretty good one.
In her second shot at a state title her sophomore year, Skrocki — representing Wahlert Catholic High School — pinned her way to the finals and took down the 1-seed with a one-point 8-7 win. She then went to the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals in Fargo in July for the biggest freestyle tournament in the nation and won that too — allowing no points until the finals, when she topped the 1-seed again by a point, 6-5.
Now, in her junior year, Skrocki next month has been invited to compete in FloWrestling’s annual “Who’s Number One” event — a spotlight showcase of the country’s top-ranked high school wrestlers.
“I just want to be the best wrestler I possibly can,” she said of her goals. “Obviously Who’s Number One is coming up, so I’m really excited for that … But I just want to be the best teammate I possible can. And I obviously want to win state, but that’s just a byproduct of hard work … And I’d love to make a world team.”
If she does, Skrocki said, it won’t be despite suffering a brutal elbow injury — but because of it.
“I don't think I would be where I am if I didn't tear my UCL.”
Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.
Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com
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