GROTON – A pair of knee surgeries couldn’t stop Korbin Kucker from leading Groton in three different sports his senior season.

Kucker was the Tigers’ starting quarterback and strong safety in football, wrestled at 175 pounds, winning 34 matches and taking seventh at the State B tournament, and leads the infield for the Groton Post 39 baseball squad.

Kucker said he knew nothing else other than to play sports.

“I don’t even know to be honest. I’ve been playing multiple sports my whole life and I’ve always been the do-it-all athlete,” Kucker said. “I wanna go out and compete in as many sports as I can.”

Playing multiple sports on three different surfaces, Kucker says that there is some correlation between football, wrestling, and baseball.

“I always found that like wrestling my whole life, has been one of the biggest aspects to my game. I take that with me on the football field, on the baseball field,” Kucker said. “It drives me to be aggressive, wanna win. It’s super physical and helps in so many ways playing multiple sports.”

Playing multiple sports year around takes a toll on a person’s body, but Kucker was able to overcome his injuries.

“I was always getting hurt one way or another, so I took advantage of lots of bottles of ibuprofen and I was fortunate enough to own a hot tub, so I recover in that all the time,” Kucker said. “I sit in an ice bath, ice whatever hurts, and I mean I’ve been through it all.”

So, what exactly has Kucker been through?

Two knee surgeries that cost him parts of multiple seasons. The first of which came his sophomore year.

“Originally, my first knee surgery was the fourth football game of the year my sophomore year against Clark and we were on defense at the time,” Kucker said, “… took Clark’s quarterback’s helmet right to my knee and I tore my meniscus, completely tore my MCL, sprained my PCL and had a couple bone fractures.”

The player who never came off the field had to take time away from the sport to get his knee ready to compete for the future.

“That was a process man. I was in and out of PT (physical therapy) two times a week for, I think it was close to eight months,” Kucker said. “So, I was constant rehab, constant ice, constant stretching. Oh, do this, do that and I was constantly going from one thing to another trying to get it fixed.”

Coming off an extensive knee surgery and jumping right onto the wrestling mat halfway through the season, Kucker was a little hesitant to get into action.

“I was pretty scared to wrestle on it for the first couple of matches. I mean, I just had a huge, huge knee surgery,” Kucker said. “So, it was a little weird to wrestle on it right away, and finally, I just kinda kicked it in and got to work and made it to state.”

His second knee surgery came not long after, when he wrestled for team South Dakota and hurt it there, but it lingered throughout baseball season.

“My second knee surgery, I went down to Des Moines, Iowa and wrestled for Team South Dakota and I didn’t even know what happened at the time, but I re-tore my meniscus in two of my three stitches,” Kucker said. “Right before the spring baseball season, I started getting tight and having problems with it. It would lock out while I’m sitting in the classroom and I wouldn’t be able to walk on it.”

Two knee surgeries later, Kucker is now without part of his meniscus and still competing at an extremely high level, recently finishing with four hits, four RBI and four runs scored in a baseball game.

“They ended up cutting a chunk of my meniscus where the stitches were torn, and they left as much as they could just cause I’m a young athlete and I got my whole life ahead of me,” Kucker said. “I walked out of the hospital, got right to rehab, and that was only a couple months, then I was right back into the baseball season.”

With one last chance at placing for state in wrestling, Kucker knew he had it in him despite going through two knee surgeries. He finished off his senior season with a win taking seventh and standing on the podium.

“It was awesome, especially from how much I’ve gone through in the past with all of my injuries and stuff like that. And falling short of the state tournament (as a junior), I mean that just makes you wanna go back and get it 10 times more,” Kucker said. “Went out and took care of my seventh-eighth place match and got a win and ended my career on a win. So, I can’t complain about that at all.”

Finishing his prep wrestling career with a victory was extremely satisfying.

“It’s one of the best feelings knowing like you’re stepping off the mat for the last time with a win. If I would’ve lost, and ended my career with a loss, I would’ve never let that go,” Kucker said. “I didn’t place as high as I wanted to, but I walked off with a win for my last match.”

With all the success and leadership he had in wrestling, it allowed him to command both the offense and defense on the football field a little bit easier.

“I’ve been a captain for the wrestling team. I’ve always played a big role of ‘Hey you got younger people looking at you, you got your team looking at you like they’re gonna rely on you.’ For me, I love having that responsible role of ‘You’re in charge, you gotta get people in place, you gotta do this and that,’” Kucker said. “I enjoyed it honestly. I liked being the big guy on the team.”

With his football season and wrestling seasons finished, Kucker is looking to go out with a bang on the baseball diamond.

“I’m just taking advantage of it. I want nothing more than to have one last good season as the final hoorah, as the last thing I’m gonna do as a high school athlete,” Kucker said. “I’m just trying to enjoy it, make the most out of it and play the best I can.”

Kucker has enjoyed the loyal support of the Groton fans throughout this career.

“It’s the best feeling and I mean there was nothing better than walking out of the equipment shed on the football field and looking at the stands and it’s just jam packed with people supporting you whether you win or lose,” Kucker said. “The community, they’re always there for you. It’s one of the best communities around and they wanna see you do your best. Win or lose, they’re gonna support you and they’re gonna be there for you. It’s truly amazing.”

The multi-sport athlete will move on from the turf, the mat, and the dirt to focus on power lines and entering the work force in the future.

“As of now, I’m going to Mitchell Tech,” Kucker said, “and I’m gonna go do power lines there for a year and then get out and try to find a job and start working right away.”

So, power line companies, be on the lookout for a hard-working athlete who knows how to overcome obstacles.