Blake Flannery, a 2008 Owensville High School graduate and former Dutchmen wrestler, was critically injured Sunday morning in a fall from a tree stand while hunting deer west of Union.

Black Flannery 2008 senior photo.

Flannery, who will turn 19 on Saturday, fell descending from the deer stand and fractured his C-1 vertebrae and crushed his C-6 vertebrae, according to his former coach Rod Barndollar. The coach was contacted by family members following the accident and was initially told the former Dutchmen heavyweight was unable to move any of his extremities.

He is on a ventilator to assist him with his breathing and is being kept sedated, said his mother, Marlene Kline, of Gerald. He is expected to be fitted with a halo devise on Thursday. He was scheduled to have a tracheotomy performed today (Wednesday), said Kline, speaking from outside her son’s room. Kline said the doctors have said to expect some level of paralysis but that the degree of severity is currently unknown.

She said her son attempted to move his arms at the elbow in an apparent effort to remove the ventilator tube.

“You just feel sick,” said Barndollar who went to visit his former wrestler on Tuesday. “He’s one of our kids.”

Barndollar said a family member told him that Flannery struck his head on a branch and landed on his back in the fall Sunday morning. He remained conscious after hitting the ground, Barndollar was told, but was unable to move his arms or legs.

Kline confirmed what Barndollar was told by her husband. She said her son was hunting with his uncle, Richard Flannery, on a cousin’s land off Route EE near Neier Road. He was attempting to climb down from the 20-foot tall deer stand and was handing off his unloaded gun to his uncle.

“He was climbing down and passing him the gun,” said Kline.  She said a board at the edge of the platform apparently gave way and he fell.

“His uncle said he grabbed for a branch on the way down and fell onto his back and neck.”

Flannery was flown by helicopter to St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in Creve Coeur and is in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Kline said the accident occurred between 7:30 and 7:45 a.m. on Nov. 16.

Flannery was a four-year Dutchmen wrestler who won 27 matches his senior year and qualified for the Missouri State High School Activities Association’s Wrestling Championships held at the Mizzou Arena on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus.

After a rocky start to his wrestling career at OHS, which saw very few wins early on, Barndollar credited Flannery for staying with the program.

“He got his chance and made it to the state (tournament) last year,” said Barndollar. “He stuck with it and made it to state as a senior.”

He lost his first match there to the eventual state champion at 275. His tournament-ending loss came to an opponent who advanced into the third round of wrestlebacks before being eliminated.

Flannery has been attending East Central College this fall as a freshman, his mother said.