The tattoo on his chest means "to overcome" in Armenian.

Eric Bradley remembers hearing the saying from his grandmother when he was a young boy. But it seemed impossible to overcome what doctors laid in front of him as he began his junior year at Penn State. The words caused more pain than any wrestling move ever could -- he would never wrestle again because of two stress fractures in his lower back.

Or so the doctors said.

Bradley is back in a blue and white singlet now, finally having the type of season that he was expected to have when he came to Happy Valley four years ago. To be in this position, he truly had to embrace the word written on his chest.

Bradley's back injury originated when he was training in Lake Placid, N.Y., after his freshman year and felt a sharp sting in his back. Bradley talked to Penn State wrestling coach Troy Sunderland and told him about the injury. Sunderland instructed Bradley to cut back on training, rest his back and give it time to heal.

However, what ensued was a vicious cycle for the wrestler from Plaistow, N.H. Time after time, Bradley would rest, try to come back, and then feel the pain of the injury.

"I was so used to working out and competing that I never really gave my body a chance to heal," he said.

Maybe if Bradley was the type of athlete who didn't like to train, things would have been easier, and he would have come back sooner. However, Bradley overdoes everything in his life. He doesn't believe in going halfway. Halfway didn't win him three state titles in high school. Halfway didn't earn him a scholarship to a Big Ten school. Halfway would never get him in a position to win a Big Ten and NCAA championship.

Pat Cummins, Bradley's roommate and teammate, remembers a preseason run when Bradley first joined the team as a freshman.

"He just took off in a dead sprint for six laps," Cummins said with a laugh. "We all thought, 'Oh my gosh, he's gonna die.' Eventually, he slowed down, but it was so funny. We knew this guy was serious."

The run earned Bradley the nickname "Pre" after legendary runner Steve Prefontaine.

Bradley admitted that as a freshman, he was so frustrated with not being able to compete that he would sometimes train at midnight and during all of his free time.

Cummins said he and his roommates were told to keep an eye on Bradley to make sure he didn't sneak to the gym or the weight room.

And so the cycle continued for Bradley's entire sophomore year, during which he never got healthy. Finally, he heeded the advice of his coaches and doctors and took two months off during the summer after his sophomore year. He wanted to be ready to finally compete at Rec Hall and embark on the career he had envisioned when he first arrived at Penn State.

He began training and wrestling with the team during the beginning of last year, but the pain returned like that song you just can't get out of your head. And then the news came from doctors. The final card had been laid out, the bell had sounded and the referee had blown his whistle. After two years of battling the injury in hopes of a comeback, Bradley was told he would never wrestle again.

"Even when I was injured, I thought in the back of my mind that I would come back," Bradley said. "But when you hear the words 'never again,' it totally changes your perspective."

Wrestling was why Bradley came to Penn State. He left his friends and family back in New Hampshire in hopes of pursuing dreams of becoming a Big Ten and NCAA champion. Now those dreams were shattered like a glass hitting the floor, and there was nothing left for the injured wrestler. He became depressed and thought about transferring and going back home to be with his friends and family. Cummins said wrestling meant more to Bradley than to anyone else on the team.

"I don't think any of us would have taken it as hard as him," Cummins said. "He was always so down. Wrestling was everything to him. He was reluctant to come to matches because he wanted to be out there so bad."

Sunderland agreed with Cummins' assessment that the news wouldn't have been as devastating for other wrestlers.

"Wrestling was such a large, large part of his life. It was everything he wanted to do in coming to Penn State," Sunderland said. "If you asked him what his hobbies were, he would say, 'running and weight training to get ready for wrestling.' "

What had been an integral part of his life since the fifth grade was no more. It was like his best friend from childhood was taken away from him and all he had was memories.

He couldn't stand the sight of his teammates training and competing because he would never again be able to step out on to the mat. Sunderland, Cummins and others tried to console Bradley, but the void in his life remained.

Then one day during the spring semester, Bradley decided he had to find something to fill his time because not doing anything was too depressing. He talked to his doctors and asked if he could join the boxing club. They told Bradley that his back being in an arched position, which was common in wrestling, was what caused most of the pain and damage, but the twisting motions of boxing might be more tolerable. Sunderland still remembers Bradley telling him that he wanted to try boxing.

"He came into my office and said, 'I came to Penn State to win a national title. If it's not going to be in wrestling, then it will have to be in boxing,' " Sunderland said.

And that's exactly what Bradley did. Last April, he went to Las Vegas and won the national collegiate boxing title in the 195-pound weight class. To qualify for the championship bout, the 5-foot-9 Bradley defeated Bobby Greer from Army, who stood at 6-foot-7.

"I know I was on my toes the whole time," Bradley said laughing. "People told me I left my feet to land a couple punches."

It wasn't wrestling, but Cummins said that boxing greatly lifted Bradley's spirits. Bradley once again began to feel good and said his teammates showed support for him by going to his matches when they could.

It was at that point that he decided to tell his story with the tattoo on his chest.

But Bradley was about to take that a step farther. The good news continued to arrive in the summer when he worked as a coaching assistant for the Nittany Lions Wrestling Club. He sometimes wrestled around on the mats with high school kids and noticed that he felt no pain in his back. Suddenly, hope returned and Bradley was cleared by doctors to give wrestling one more shot. After convincing Sunderland, he began an adjusted training schedule and was back with the team.

The moment he had been dreaming about for years arrived on Dec. 13. Bradley took the mat for his first dual meet at Rec Hall. The outcome was a 15-7 victory over Navy's Chris Pogue. Bradley was awarded the Ridge Riley Award for being Penn State's most outstanding wrestler on the night.

"He received the award not because of how he wrestled that night, but because of what he had been through just to get there," Sunderland said.

Now Bradley is 24-3 on the season and ranked No. 8 in the latest InterMat poll. He sees his tattoo now, and it means more than ever before.

"When I look in the mirror, I remember what I've been through and to keep on going," he said.

With two more years of eligibility left, the Lions lineup has solidified the spot at 184 pounds. Bradley's dreams of a Big Ten and NCAA championship are closer than ever before.

He has overcome.