At last year’s State Wrestling tournament, the Finley brothers were battling for titles for Willard; not knowing Michael was about to face an opponent bigger than any weight class.
What started as the flu, quickly turned into a staph infection, pneumonia, and a couple weeks later, he had a double lung transplant. Michael was on life support for 51 days.
“In that time frame, none of the doctors thought he was going to make it,” said Michael Finley Sr.
After four months, Mike was released from the hospital, and while his survival was incredible, his battle toward recovery was long from over.
“It’s harder to do things, like walk around, walk to my room, go to the bathroom,” Michael Finley Jr. said in April.
From small steps to big strides in recovery, Michael says the hardest part now, is starting to work out again.
“It’s really hard and I don’t like to do it, but if I want to feel better and even if I don’t get to wrestle I have to do it,” Michael said.
Mike wasn’t able to get back to wrestling this season, but he’s part of the team in a different way; as one of the coaches, and he thinks keeping the team close is helping him get through during his recovery.
“It also makes me miss it more, but yeah its helped me,” said Michael. “I get to come in after being home all day and I get to hang out with them and talk to them.”
“He really doesn’t say much but when he knows how you wrestle, he’ll speak up. He’s a pretty good coach,” said his younger brother Christian Finley, who decided to dedicate this season to Mike.
“Knowing that he’s there and that he’s watching, you don’t want to disappoint him, especially because he never disappointed you when he wrestled,” Christian said.
In one year, Michael’s life has changed entirely.
“Everywhere I go, people know who I am,” Michael said. “People I don’t know come up to me and hug me.”
His motivation is no longer a state championship — it’s something bigger.
“It’s for me, but it’s not for me at the same time,” Michael said. “It’s for everyone else to show everyone else that you can do whatever when things get bad.”
