Ty Smith

Athlete of the Month
Ty Smith
Pictures and Content courtesy of The Smith/Woods Family
My wrestling story begins in 2004 when I first started at the age of five. I didn’t participate at any tournaments, but I attended practices quite frequently and just loved the idea of competition. Growing up in a little town there was not much opportunity for big tournaments, other than traveling to Las Vegas which luckily was only about an hour away. I was blessed with some uncles that loved the sport and were able to experience the sport at a Division One level. They pushed and coached me all throughout my childhood and taught me that nothing was impossible, and there is no such thing as “can’t”. Throughout my youth career I gathered up a handful of Triple Crown Awards at the Nevada State Tournament as well as Western Regionals and USA National Championships–these were the main tournaments that I went to as a young wrestler, along with various Utah tournaments.
 
My high school career was a little bumpy to begin with. I lost some matches to some tough opponents, and I feel like I let the feeling of competing at another level get to my head. I was able to walk away with the State Title that year with a close match in the finals. This continued throughout my high school career, and I gathered up three more State Titles, along with Regional Titles for all the years as well. In 2016 I picked up my first high school age National Title at the USA Folkstyle Nationals in Iowa. It was that same year that I placed 5th in Freestyle and 6th in Greco at Fargo. I went into my junior year with one goal in mind, to win a Fargo National Title that next summer. I wrestled hard throughout the year, had a good season and that next summer in 2017, I I did get my Junior Fargo National title at 113lbs. That memory will stay with me for the rest of my life. Mainly because I got to experience it with my Uncle and Grandfather in my corner. I cannot describe the joy I felt. It was after that, when college coaches really started talking to me, and reaching out with scholarship opportunities. I went on a few visits and decided to attend Drexel University, after I finished my high school career.
 
The summer of 2018 I headed out to Philadelphia to attend Drexel University and compete for them. It was a hard summer being so far away from home, but an amazing experience. It taught me that the college level was no joke. I started the year thinking I would wrestle 125, but as I approached 155, I decided I would wrestle 133. When the season started to get closer I began having a few small health issues which I overlooked thinking they would pass, and before I knew it, we were getting ready to compete. I began the season with my first dual win, and we headed to a tournament in Vegas, which did not go as well as I’d hoped, but I headed back looking to put in more work and get better. My health issues continued to get worse, so I decided to see a doctor. Without doing a full look into it, we thought it was a minor issue that would pass with little treatment. I continued competing and noticed that I felt more out of shape than I usually did, which I took, as I needed to work harder. I continued to push through and then we headed out to the Southern Scuffle. This is where I hit a wall with my health that I could not describe. I could tell that something was definitely wrong at that point, and after heading back to campus, I decided I needed to see someone about my problems.
 
I started seeing a doctor and pulling back on workouts, but right around the end of January 2019 I began losing weight. I started having serious stomach issues and could not eat. I finally had a more in depth look and the doctor diagnosed me with Crohn’s disease. Around this time I was weighing 125lbs and began getting medicine to help as much as possible. I finally decided I needed to withdraw from Drexel and head back home for treatment and more extensive care. To this day I think if I would have left any later I would not have been able to make the flight home. I spent two weeks in my house sitting in the same spot not being able to move, nor eat, and needing constant attention. Throughout this time I had seen a doctor in St George, Utah who put me on more medicine than I had ever had in my life. We began IV treatment and it was at this point they changed the diagnoses to Ulcerative Colitis, which gave a lot more hope for the future.
 
At the end of the two weeks I was in tremendous pain and could not handle it anymore ,so my mother took me to the Emergency room where they admitted me, and marked my weight at 105 lbs. For the next two weeks I was in the hospital where they inserted a feeding tube, and pumped me with fluids while trying to get me to eat. When I left the hospital I was weighing around 145 pounds, which was mostly fluids. They felt like I would be able to eat on my own and could possibly be alright returning home. After another week at home I was in tremendous pain once again, and my weight had dropped to 99lbs. At this point the doctors made the decision to remove my entire large intestine due to it not responding to the medicine. It was a hard decision, but the only one I had. After removing my large intestine I spent another week in the hospital and felt better every day. When I left I had a not so fashionable colostomy bag for the next 4 months. That time was spent mostly anticipating having it removed and trying to gather the strength to get some exercise. I had the colostomy bag removed and had my reconnecting surgery on June 18th, 2019.
 
I know that the strength and determination that wrestling taught me is the reason I am still here today. After that I decided that it would be best for my health to try and stay closer to home for schooling. I decided to transfer to Utah Valley University, which happened to be a school I was considering as well. I began trying to wrestle and slowly get back into the wrestling atmosphere with my friends and family members that were currently in high school. I felt like the basics were still there, however my shape took a lot longer to get back, along with my strength. I left the hospital with zero muscle, so it made sense that it would take a little bit to regain. Simple drills and workouts made it easier for my body to adjust. I also had to give some time for my scars to heal internally and externally. On August 8th, 2019 I headed out to the Utah Valley University. Since then I have been working on regaining my strength and getting my shape back to compete once again at a Division one level. It has been a long journey but I am finally back and competing again here at UVU and very grateful to be able to.
 
I have so many people to thank for my career and the influence they had on me. There are too many to name, but I would like to point out a few of those who not only played a huge part on my career but helped me through my illness as well.

  • Marsha Woods my mother)
  • Cory Severeide my father
  • Kerry Woods
  • Sue Woods
  • Skyler Woods
  • Emma Woods
  • Scott Woods
  • Afton Woods
  • Matt Woods
  • Lauren Woods
  • Sheri Crandall
  • Mark Crandall
  • Brandon Woods
  • Jeremey Woods
  • Leon Durbin
  • Dan Burgess
  • James Downing
  • Kathi Berreyesa
  • The Doctors at Intermountain Hospital in St George, Utah
  • The high school wrestlers at Virgin Valley High School
  • The wrestlers and coaches back at Drexel University

I would also like to thank everyone who donated to my go-fund me. The relief of not having to stress about how I was going to afford my medical bills made my recovery tremendously easier so thank you all.
And finally I want to thank my beautiful wife, she went through school and a job and was with me every step of the way. We got married this past May, and I am extremely thankful to have her in my life.