WEBSTER – An injury forced Matthew Mount to the sideline, but it also prepared him for a major return to action.

The Webster senior has overcome a torn ACL to play a key role in variety of sports for the Bearcats. After an all-state football season and a memorable basketball campaign, Mount is picking up where he left off in track and field two years ago after missing the entire spring last year.

Mount’s athletic journey took a major change in directions with a knee injury suffered in football his junior season.

“I partially tore it in football and then I finished it off in basketball,” Mount said.

That forced him to sit and watch his entire junior track and field season. However, that setback has turned into a positive.

“It was really hard to watch, but it was nice because I could mentor some younger throwers coming up,” Mount said. “It kind of helped me through the process, because helping them really helped my technique, too. I could actually focus on the little things. I literally learned a lot from just sitting there and watching.”

Following months of rehab, Mount returned to the gridiron last fall.

“It was a goal to get back. It was tough,” he said. “I had a lot of doubt at first, but once I got rolling through physical therapy and everything, my confidence was coming back that I could play.”

The Northern State recruit missed the first couple of weeks of the season, but soon was back to bringing traffic to a halt from his linebacker position.

“I had doubt until the second snap,” Mount said. “After the first snap I felt back. I was excited. I felt good.”

While Mount had an all-state campaign last fall filled with 66 tackles, including 10 for loss, ending up with 313 total career tackles, seven sacks, and three defensive touchdowns, he will hit the Northern State campus with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

“I think I was really under looked from college coaches because of the ACL injury,” Mount said. “I kind of just want to prove them wrong, almost.”

Mount then was a key starter for the Webster basketball team this past winter, helping the Bearcats to one of their best seasons in decades.

“I kind of played basketball just to get my agility back, and just get faster, and kind of lean out more, because I gained a few pounds after the ACL surgery, so I had to burn that off a little bit,” Mount said. “This season went great. This was one the best seasons we’ve had in probably like 15 years. … This was our first year in 20 years we’ve had a winning season. It was a great year.”

That helped propel Mount into his final track and field season. When he last competed in the sport he finished second in the shot put and sixth in the discus in Class A at the state meet as a sophomore.

“The first two meets I was kind of just getting back into the groove a little bit,” Mount said.

Then this past Thursday at a meet in Milbank, Mount showed that his comeback is complete.

“I finally am back to the 54 feet in shot put,” Mount said. “It just felt good finally throwing that.”

Mount has big goals in mind for this season, including making a run at the school record of 57-9.

“In practice my best is like 57-58, so I’m hoping for like a 62 maybe,” Mount said. “Big number, but I gotta shoot for it.”

Mount also plays baseball in the summer months. Before he takes the diamond this year though he will be competing in the Senior Bowl all-star football game in early June.

“It’s going to be fun. I have a few teammates at Northern actually playing in it,” Mount said. “It should be fun to play with them and against them, I guess. It will just be fun playing against more competition that I’ve never even played against before.”

While Mount also played fullback on offense, it’s roaming the field on defense and laying hits on opposing ball carriers that move his needle the most.

“It’s fun hitting people and not getting in trouble,” Mount said.

Mount said that “consistency and determination” are traits that carry over in all four of his sports, and it is also evident that Mount knows where the weight room is and likes to use it.

“Every single day. Only day I take off is Saturday,” Mount said of his visits to the weight room.

It’s a routine that he started four years ago and something he enjoys.

“I started lifting in freshman year, ever since then, it’s just fun,” Mount said. “It’s just more of a hobby for me.”

The lifting has undoubtedly made Mount stronger through the years, but he said the mental side of track and field is also important.

“You gotta have a lot of confidence,” Mount said. “If you don’t have confidence stepping in the ring, your throw is already going to crap. … The first two meets this year, I didn’t have a lot of confidence coming back into it. I was little nervous.”

Now that the confidence has been restored, Mount wants to cap off his prep career in a big way. He knows what it will take to make that happen.

“Definitely staying in the weight room,” Mount said. “I’ve got to increase some numbers on my lifts in that and just working on speed through the ring, and staying lower so I can use my legs more.”

As Mount inches his way to his final state track and field meet next month, he wants to make up for missing last year’s event by bringing home a state championship in the shot put.

“I need to finish it off a good way,” Mount said. “I’m hoping to win state. … Winning shot put is my biggest goal for this season.”