Bridgeport High School alum and current West Virginia University football player Wes Tonkery is recovering from recent knee surgery, but he said he expects to be 100 percent in a few weeks.
Tonkery said earlier today that he had his left knee undergo arthroscopic surgery. The surgery repaired a torn meniscus, he said.
“I injured my knee about two weeks prior to the (April 20) Gold-Blue (spring) game,” said Tonkery. “I hurt it in practice. I’m not sure when it happened, but I noticed that my knee didn’t feel quite right and it didn’t seem to get better. Basically, it just felt weird.”
Tonkery said he met with WVU medical personnel. From there, it was determined that he had a torn meniscus.
“I actually tried to go in the spring game because I felt I had a pretty good spring and everyone wants to play in that game. I was pretty bummed how things turned out,” said Tonkery. “I played in one play and it just wasn’t right. I was told to play as long as I could tolerate the injury, but it wasn’t feeling too good that day.”
Surgery took place April 26, the Friday after the spring game. Tonkery said everything went well.
“They just did a scope and cleaned it out and that was about it,” said Tonkery. “I’ve been getting some (physical therapy) and been doing strength conditioning to stay in shape.”
Tonkery said he expects to be back to full strength within the next couple of weeks. Still, missing the spring game was difficult.
This season, Tonkery will be a redshirt junior. He was one of the top performers on special teams and moved this past year down to outside linebacker after playing bandit safety in the secondary. Tonkery said his current weight is at 220 pounds.
“I feel really comfortable at that weight,” he said. “I’m feeling really good about myself and our chances this year. I think we’ve got what we need to have a successful season.”
Tonkery was a two-time Class AAA all-state first team selection while with the Indians. He helped lead the team to the Class AAA semifinals his senior year, which was plagued with injuries.
The former BHS standout is the son of Brian and Sherri Tonkery. He is majoring in industrial engineering. Tonkery also started for WVU in their record-breaking Orange Bowl win over Clemson.
Editor's Note: Top photo by Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com. Bottom photo by Joe McNemar of D-Max Photography.
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