Andrew Haile felt his knee pop during the first period of his match on Nov. 16, but he wrestled through it. In the third period, the 197-pound wrestler realized he couldn't extend his knee so he took an injury timeout.

But with a dual-meet win still possible for Penn State, Haile completed his match despite having a torn medial meniscus in his left knee.

His mother, Denise Haile, didn't think anything was wrong when she watched her son call for an injury timeout during his first collegiate wrestling match in two years.

"I thought he just bumped it or twisted it, or a cramp," she said. "I never expected to see him in a brace with crutches a half hour later."

Andrew Haile had surgery on his left knee on Nov. 20, to sew his meniscus back together, officially ending his season.

Coach Troy Sunderland said going into the surgery, the medical staff was uncertain as to the recovery time Haile would endure. Sunderland said Haile's recovery period could have been as little as three to four weeks, so when he woke up from the operation and learned that he was out for the year it was "pretty devastating."

"It's really frustrating because I can't do much, that's the thing," Haile said. "I just have to crutch around from day to day and that's about it. And it's going to be like that for awhile."

Rehabilitation on his left knee started Tuesday, Haile said. For the next three to four months, the Crabtree, Pa. native will go to rehab with Penn State trainer Dan Monthley five days a week.

Haile said he thinks he will be on crutches for a little over a month, depending on how his knee heals.

Haile finished his match against Hofstra's Joe Fagiano even though he said he knew something was wrong with his knee. His mother, however, said his family had "absolutely no idea" about the injury and waited around for Andrew to come out and greet them after the Hofstra match.

"His brother text messaged him and Andrew told him to 'Come back'," Denise said. "So then we all went back [to the locker room] and saw him in a brace and crutches and he said he couldn't walk. It was bad and it was painful."

Denise said she had to go get the car and bring it right up to the door. Two days later, Andrew said he visited a doctor who told him surgery was necessary.

"Those two days were really tough," Andrew said. "And after the surgery I was just bedridden for the next three or four days. But I did get to go home for Thanksgiving break, which helped to go home and see family and what not."

Haile's injury comes after the senior wrestler took a two-year hiatus from wrestling. The senior quit the team his freshman year, but returned this summer once a spot at the 197-pound weight class opened up.

In the Lions' Wrestle-offs, Haile earned a spot in the starting lineup after winning the 197-pound match.

"This year was so important to him and he was so looking forward to coming back to wrestling on the team," his mother said. "He conditioned, he worked hard, and he lifted all summer. This has been going on for months to get himself ready at the weight, and then it's all over in one match."

Haile sounded disheartened in a telephone interview Wednesday night, as he said all his work will "all go out the window after one match."

"That's definitely a heartbreaker, not just to him but to us as well," junior Brad Pataky said. "I can't imagine how he's feeling after all that work in the summer and then coming back, that's definitely hard on him. He's a tough kid though he'll bounce right back I think. He'll be okay. It's sad that had to happen."