COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Tuesday, April 23, 2024, began like any other day for Ohio State wrestling coach Tom Ryan.   “I leave the house at the same time, I drink the same drink, I pick a song that’s going to be my song for the morning – this particular song was, Elevation Worship’s ‘Trust in God,’” he said. “And it was a really peaceful morning until I hit the tractor-trailer.”  He was driving down Interstate 270 west of Interstate 71 and at 5:56 a.m., his car smashed into the back of a semi-truck trailer parked on the right shoulder.   It was then the former wrestler’s most challenging bout began.   "I have full recall of the morning up until I have no recall at all,” Ryan said. "I heard a steel door bending that woke me up. And then it was, ‘What happened? Where am I?’"  An ambulance took Ryan to Ohio State Wexner Medical Center where he had surgeries to repair femur and patella fractures in his left leg.   Then, while he was unconscious, his family had to make a critical decision to have doctors perform a tissue flap transfer from his right thigh to his left knee.  “The good news is my wife loves me,” Ryan said with a laugh, tears in his eyes. “Of course, my family was very stressed over it. You know they were stressed over the decision; they had to make a really serious decision on my well-being and would I have agreed with it. And we are still married four-and-a-half months later! I would have said you made the right call.”  Scars are still prominent on both of Ryan’s legs six months after the surgery, as is the gratitude he feels towards the doctors and nurses who took care of him while he was in the hospital.   "Dr. (David) Nash is the man; he is the man,” Ryan said. “Twelve hours of sewing blood vessels! I mean he's a pretty impressive guy. Dr. (Angela) Collins, Dr. Nash and Dr. (Grant) Jones all were in the ER and all made a difference. Super grateful. We are going to recognize them at a match and the nurses. I did give a hard time to one or two of them.”  After 12 days in the hospital, Ryan went home and began recovery and rehab and for four months, his usual schedule was suddenly in every way different.   "I mean, I've not been in a wrestling room at 3 -- I could probably count on my hands and feet over the last 32 years,” Ryan said. “So to have that taken for that amount of time was challenging."  "He never lost his smile, you know, and it's a, which is cool to see how something like that in that bad of a spot can be that upbeat,” said Ohio State redshirt sophomore Nick Feldman. “It's uplifting the rest of us."  Now Ryan is back up in the wrestling room and back up on his feet, though still leaning on a crutch. He’s also leaning on his traumatic experience to help him guide his highly-ranked wrestling Bucks into a new season.   “Without question, one, it has taught me how to be with just me,” Ryan said. “I thought I liked me a lot but when you’re alone with yourself, it’s like, maybe I don’t like you so much!” Ryan said with a laugh. “So it’s just being alone with your thoughts and with God. That was a lot of learning for me.  “The second thing was the experience of understanding what my guys are going through when they're injured. You know that this isn't an easy thing for them. It's trauma for them. And not that I have never been there for them, but I think is a better it's just a higher level of understanding.”  Ryan’s wrestlers said they are more motivated than ever going into this season with an added appreciation after watching their leader fight through his injuries. For Ryan, that motivation is reciprocal.   “It's good to be with them,” he said. “They are motivated people, they want to be great so it's been great to be back.”