Jefferson High wrestler partially paralyzed in freak accident, team wins state title in his honor

JEFFERSON, Ga. - A Jefferson High School wrestler is still recovering after a freak accident during a match left him partially paralyzed.

His team rallied to win the state title in his honor. 

SEE ALSO: ‘Freak accident’ breaks neck of high school wrestler during state championship

The backstory:

On Feb. 13, during his quarterfinal match in the state championship tournament in Macon, Dominic Haines broke his neck, leaving him partially paralyzed. 

His coach, Kyle Baird, was right there by his side after it happened. "I tried to reassure him that it's going to be okay, we're going to take care of him because he was pretty scared," Baird said. 

He was rushed to a Macon hospital where he is still recovering now. 

Jefferson High School senior Cap Benson, who has wrestled alongside Haines for 10 years, says he was preparing for his own match when he saw the commotion around his friend’s mat. "Then I saw his dad leave with the stretcher and that's when I was like, ‘this really isn't good,’" Benson said. 

Doing it for Dom

What they're saying:

Benson says it hurts to see his friend and teammate get so severely injured at a moment the two had looked forward to for years.

Losing Haines meant the team would have to work harder now to win the overall state title. "He was expected to be in the state finals. I mean, I don't think there was anything stopping him from that goal. To me, he was wrestling his best…I don't think anybody is wrestling better than him in that one 144lb weight class," Benson said.

Benson says he was already motivated to win, but then he got a text from Haines’ mother that motivated him and the team more than ever. "I'm Dom’s roommate for this tournament. So, all his stuff is in my hotel room. That night I texted him mom and I said, ‘Hey, I'm going to hang on to his stuff, don't worry about it.’ And then she said, ‘Okay, thank you and keep doing it for Dom.’ And when she said that…that definitely helped light a fire for, I think, all of us," Benson said. 

Coach Baird said he could see his guys wrestling with renewed motivation. "I would say we borderline shut those guys down. Just watching the match, watching how our guys are on the attack all the time…they just had a little extra motivation with all that going on and it was a beautiful thing to watch," Baird said. 

State Champions

Dig deeper:

Benson says he was overjoyed when he won his match. "I about lost it. I mean, I was jumping up and down and screaming at the stands. I got a lot more emotional than I thought I would," Benson said. 

Jefferson High School wrestling team (Supplied)

The team was able to get enough points to bring home the State 3A team title. "It meant more than just that we won the team title. It was more because we did this for someone else," Baird said. 

Benson says he can’t wait until Haines is well enough to share the news with him.  "I can't wait to show him that I won, just because he's my friend. And we've been talking about it for a while," Benson said. 

His condition 

What's next:

In an update posted to Facebook on Monday, Haines’ father shared an update about his son, saying he was showing more positive signs of progress. "Last night was the best night Dominic has had so far. He pretty much slept throughout the entire night," Zach Haines wrote.

Both Benson and Baird believe, just as they fought hard to bring the state title home for Dom, they know he is going to fight just as hard during his recovery. "The fighting spirit that he has, I think he's going to keep going. He's going to come back stronger and better and be ready to go when the time is right for him," Baird said.  

"I know he's going to fight through this, but it's going to take him a long time," Benson said. 

There is a GoFundMe to help the family with medical expenses: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-dominics-wrestling-injury