BIDDEFORD — Peyton Bissonnette made a trip to Athens, Pennsylvania last June to compete in an off-season wrestling tournament as he prepared for his senior season with the Biddeford High School team.
Unfortunately for Bissonnette, instead of helping him improve heading into his senior campaign, it almost cost him his final year of high school wrestling.
“I was wrestling against a kid from District 5 in (Pennsylvania) and I got put in a bad spot and I didn’t really know what happened at first, but I knew something was wrong,” said Bissonnette.
The match was stopped and Bissonnette was taken to a local hospital — and soon his world would be turned upside down.
“They told me I had a pars fracture on my L5 vertebrae. I didn’t know what that meant at first, so I went to my family physician and they explained it all to me,” Bissonnette recalled.
The pars fracture on his L5 vertebrae — also known as a broken back — would put Bissonnette’s senior season in serious doubt.
“He got hurt in (Pennsylvania) and we didn’t think he was going to wrestle,” said Biddeford coach Steve Vermette.
The road to recovery started with Bissonette in a back brace.
“From there I get checked out for a back brace. I got that in the first week of July and I was in that for maybe 15 weeks,” Bissonnette said.
At first his doctors weren’t thrilled about the Biddeford senior competing on the mat this year.
“They were really skeptical about it,” said Bissonnette.
After his doctors gave him the OK, Bissonnette decided he was going to fight through the pain.
“I wrestled my first tournament this season and it wasn’t good. I struggled a lot,” said Bissonnette. “I went back and they did another CT scan and they told me it was still broken. They told me I could just tough it out or I could stop.”
After a few weeks of the season, the Biddeford senior would be forced out of the lineup as he went back to get more tests done.
“I had to stop again until they did an MRI. I wanted to make sure there was nothing else wrong,” said Bissonnette. “I figured to myself as long as it was what I thought it was, I was going to continue wrestling and just tough it out for the rest of the year.”
Vermette has been impressed with Bissonnette’s ability to fight through adversity.
“A lot of heart. I mean he’s in pain all the time and he doesn’t show it and he doesn’t tell us, but I can tell in practice when he’s hurting,” said Vermette.
The senior constantly deals with a level of pain that makes matches — and even practices — much more difficult.
“It’s been rough with matches and stuff. Right now I’m at probably a six or a seven,” said Bissonnette following a practice on Wednesday. “I just have to tough it out at states and see what happens after that.”
Bissonnette was willing to battle through the pain to finish what he started four years ago.
“I love wrestling. I wrestled the last four years and it’s just what I love. It would have been a waste if I had said no,” said Bissonnette, who didn’t pick up the sport until his freshman year.
Vermette was focused on getting Bissonnette back to the state tournament in his senior season.
“That was our goal this year was to try to get him to qualify for states his senior year and he did it,” Vermette said.
Bissonnette, who also qualified for states last year, was thrilled to earn a return trip.
“I was happy. I got a little closure for myself. I worked really hard. I started (wrestling) as a freshman and I was just really happy to make states this year,” Bissonnette said.
The senior also credits Vermette and assistant coach John Kelly with giving him the support he needed to succeed this year.
“They have been with me with whatever decision I was going to make. They knew I wasn’t backing out just because I didn’t want to wrestle. They knew it was going to be a challenge this year and it really has been,” Bissonnette said. “I’m glad that they are really understanding and they are helping me out a lot this year to get through it. I’m thankful for that.”
No matter what happens at the state tournament on Saturday, Bissonnette will have left his mark on the BHS wrestling program — and Vermette will certainly never forget the senior’s hard-fought journey.
“I’m very proud of him. He has a lot of heart. He’s a good leader on the team. He does everything I ask … I’m going to miss him when he’s gone next year,” said Vermette.
— Sports Editor Pat McDonald can be reached at pmcdonald@journaltribune.com or at 780-9017. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @JournalTsports.

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