Tariq Mansour was well aware of the implications. Admit to a possible concussion on the eve of his MIAA Sectional wrestling meet and end his high school career, or ignore it and face possible long-term effects.

A senior at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Mansour, seeded third in the tournament, faced the worst possible scenario. If he spoke up, he would be not compete in what might be his last high school tournament and his four-year wrestling career would be over. If he "powered through it" he just might be OK. But he couldn't ignore the symptoms he'd had following a match the previous week.

He had a choice to make.

"I knew what it meant," said Mansour, when he decided to request a concussion evaluation. "but it made sense. The things we've seen about concussions show that they're a serious issue. My brain got me into college, not wrestling, so I knew that was what I had to take care of first," he told the Cambridge Chronicle.

One of Mansour's wrestling coaches acknowledged th struggle. Yves Lamitie said, “As a coach, it was devastating to see. Here was a kid who worked his butt off for four years, and to have tehat opportunity taken away from him was very hard to witness.”

Mansour believes the concuhttps://ducation he received from the school's athletic trainers made the difference. Under their guidance he learned the symptoms of concussions which enabled him to recognize his own and understand the importance sitting out.

Some in the Cambridge community have been upset over the high number of concussion reported by high school athletes in their area. The athletic trainers said they believe the incidence has not increased as much as the reporting.

Epidemiologists who compile data on the number of concussions for government organizations have expected a rise in the number of injuries reported as awareness increases.

Source: Rindge wrestler protects, requests season-ending concussion test -- Cambridge Chronicle

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