Michael Innes' sophomore season on the Chartiers-Houston High School wrestling team was painful in more than one way.

Innes saw his season come to a close sooner than expected when he aggravated a rib cage injury in the opening round of the Southwest Regional tournament.

"At the start of the season, there was no doubt in my mind that Michael Innes would place among the top four at the PIAA tournament," Chartiers-Houston coach Bill Sutton said. "After watching him at the Powerade Tournament, I felt he had a legitimate shot of making it to the state finals."

Innes placed fourth at 140 pounds at the prestigious Powerade Tournament, with his only losses to Shady Side Academy's Dane Johnson and Central Dauphin's Kenny Stank. Johnson went on to claim his fourth WPIAL Class AA title and third PIAA title. Stank placed sixth at 135 in the PIAA Class AAA tournament.

"It was horrible to see his season end that way," Sutton said of the injury that sidelined Innes. "He deserved a much better fate."

Innes entered the postseason tournaments with a 31-2 record and had no problem advancing to the WPIAL semifinals. That's when things took a turn for the worse.

"I was wrestling [Bentworth's] Gus Mizia when it happened," Innes said. "I went to throw a headlock and twisted the wrong way. It was so painful, but I continued wrestling and pinned him in overtime."

That set up a rematch with Johnson in the WPIAL title match, but Innes was in too much pain to wrestle.

"I wanted a chance to keep Dane from winning his fourth title, but I didn't want to aggravate the injury even more," said Innes, who defaulted with hopes of making a comeback in the Southwest Regional. "I didn't wrestle that week. I just did a lot of cardio to keep my weight down. I just wanted to get through the next two weeks."

Innes faced Penns Valley's Drew Zettle in the first round and built an 11-2 lead.

"I tried to turn him and experienced the worst pain I've ever felt," said Innes, who surprisingly finished the bout, recording an 11-4 victory. "At that point, they took me to the hospital to get checked out. The doctor told me I had torn the muscle away from my bottom three ribs. It was so painful."

Innes withdrew from the tournament and finished the season with a 36-3 record.

"The doctors said I didn't need surgery, but insisted that I not do anything for two months," Innes said. "It was rough not wrestling, but I did start riding a bike after the first month."

Innes began training a month ago and is making his return this week at the Disney Duals as a member of Team Quest.

"I've been working out at Quest for a couple years," Innes said of the club run by Jim Akerly. "This was my first chance to wrestle at the Disney Duals."

Innes almost didn't make the trip.

"My family went to Arizona last week for a vacation and they are not coming home until this week," Innes said. "I didn't want to miss either, so I came home early. I'm really looking forward to the tournament. It will give me a chance to see what I can do against competition from across the country."

Innes broke into Chartiers-Houston's starting lineup as a 135-pound freshman and finished with a 24-7 record after losing two of three in the section tournament. Last year, Innes moved to 140 and won the section title and placed second in the WPIAL. He has a two-year record of 60-10.

Innes will wrestle in the 140-pound weight class at the Disney Duals and will receive a five-pound weight allowance.

"I weighed in at 148 before leaving for Florida," Innes said. "I only have three pounds to cut."

Innes plans to wrestle at either 145 or 152 for his junior year at Chartiers-Houston.