Shilson On the Other Side of Major Surgery
Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com
by Derek Levendusky
Twitter: @AWWderek
IG: @AWWnewsfeed
MAPLE GROVE, MINNESOTA - College and senior women’s wrestling star Emily Shilson is going public with the news that she went through major surgery 12 weeks ago that took her off the mat for a month. The 4x college national champion had a 9-inch stent put into her kidney and ureter as her body healed.
The Shilsons kept the news on the downlow and took the All-Star Classic match knowing she would be restarting her competition from a standstill. In fact, it was six weeks to prepare from the time the stent was removed to match day.
Shilson, currently ranked #5 in FloWrestling’s Senior Women’s Freestyle Rankings, was in pain for a while. “She had been living, competing, and training with a back pain that would put most athletes out of the sport,” her father-coach Chad Shilson shared. “She couldn’t sit and have her back touch anything towards the end. Incredible ability to get through the pain and compete.”
Just last summer, Shilson fought through severe pain to compete in Spain and Tunisia. “I’ve seen a lot in my day,” Coach Shilson relates. “But watching this over the past two years, knowing what she had gone through, without ever complaining was incredible.”
The surgery lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes. The Shilsons were hush about it until they were on the other side, able to train and compete.
When the NWCA contacted them about the opportunity, the Augsburg University star took the match against #1 NAIA-ranked Peyton Prussin knowing she had a limited number of days to start her training again.
The match was worth the price of admission, with Prussin holding a 4-0 lead at the break, only for Shilson to come back and win it 8-4.
“Emily thought if it can motivate someone else to know [what she went through],” said her father, “it would be worth it.”
In college, Shilson has won three NCWWC national titles and one WCWA title. She’s undefeated at the college level.