Cowburn is state champion
Cowburn had knee surgery 11 days earlier

Coudersport High School wrestler Dirk Cowburn is shown with physical therapist Roz Connor, Bradley Giannotti, M.D., his father Dan Cowburn and his mother Darla Cowburn.

Coudersport has its first high school wrestling state champion in almost 20 years and only its second ever.

Sophomore Dirk Cowburn polished off a perfect 38-0 season with four wins at the PIAA State Championships at Hershey last weekend to emerge as the Class AA 152-pound champion.

A knee injury that likely dates back to the 2007 football season nearly wiped out Cowburn's incredible season, the young grappler confirmed.

"The knee would catch and lock on me and I couldn't do anything about it," he explained.

His parents, Dan and Darla Shepard Cowburn, conferred with Dr. Bradley Giannotti, orthopedic surgeon at Charles Cole Memorial Hospital, and learned that Dirk had suffered a torn meniscus.

Coming off a national championship over the summer in one style of wrestling and a runner-up finish in another, Cowburn's dream of a state title was in jeopardy.

Surgery was scheduled for Feb. 11, just 11 days before the PIAA District 9 Meet in Clarion.

After Dr. Giannotti performed the surgery by removing the torn piece and smoothing the edges with a laparoscope, he placed the odds at 50-50 that Cowburn would be able to compete at Clarion.

That's when Roz Connor, a physical therapist at Cole, stepped in. She evaluated the teen and prescribed the exercises that would help him achieve strength and range of motion.

"I was skeptical," she recalled. "Ten days was cutting it pretty close, but Dirk was so determined. The hardest thing was to get back the range of motion. We did work on stretching and iced it to diminish the swelling."

Dr. Giannotti said it was obvious that Dirk and his parents were focused on his return to the mat. Dan Cowburn is an assistant to Falcon coach Thad Taylor.

"You cannot overstate the importance of the patient's motivation," Giannotti said. "Dirk worked very hard and was very determined."

Dirk put it simply: "I hate to lose."

After his win at states, Cowburn sent a text message to Dr. Giannotti to share the news; the surgeon was accompanying his daughter to a half-marathon last weekend.

Dirk said he was very touched by the hero's welcome he received on Sunday afternoon as he pulled into Sweden Valley and saw all the emergency vehicles with sirens blaring lights flashing.

"I wondered, 'Where's the fire?' I didn't realize it was for me!"

Dan and Darla Cowburn expressed their appreciation to Dr. Giannotti, calling him "an outstanding surgeon," and to the community for its support.

"Dr. Giannotti made time to see Dirk after regular office hours, scheduled the surgery immediately, and was very supportive through the whole ordeal," Darla noted.

Impressive showing in the finals

Dirk Cowburn was an elusive target for Northeast Bradford's Ethan Laudermilch in the state championship match for 152-pounders in Hershey.

A quick takedown earned him a 2-0 lead before Laudermilch (31-4) escaped to make it 2-1. Then Cowburn (38-0) flipped his foe in the closing seconds of the first period to take a 4-1 lead.

Laudermilch managed an escape to cut the gap to 4-2 in the second period. His repeated attempts to shoot at Cowburn met with no success.

At the start of the third period, the Northeast Bradford grappler wrapped up Cowburn briefly, then yielded an escape to make the score 5-2. Cowburn rode it out from there, becoming Coudersport's first state champion since Tom Storey took the 189-pound crown in 1989.

To reach the main event, Cowburn (37-0) had to get past Corey Lear (41-1) of Benton in the semifinals. He was nearly untouchable in a masterful 9-2 win.

In the quarterfinals, Cowburn took care of Mike Brant (31-6) of Westmont-Hilltop, 15-8.