Oregon State’s Travis Wittlake Jr. gets his hand raised after winning a match at the 2023 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.
Oregon State’s Travis Wittlake Jr. injured in truck accident; GoFundMe donation page set up to assist with medical expenses
by Richard Immel, USA Wrestling
Oregon State standout wrestler Travis Wittlake Jr. has sustained multiple severe injuries after being wedged underneath a pickup truck on Jan. 7, according to multiple national reports.
Wittlake Jr. suffered a compound leg fracture and multiple fractured vertebrae after the jack on his truck gave way while he was working underneath it. Thanks to quick action from emergency medical responders, Wittlake Jr. is reportedly stable and on the road to recovery.
A GoFundMe donation page has been set up for anyone desiring to assist the Wittlake family with emergency medical expenses. The page has raised nearly $80,000 in the past two days.
Wittlake Jr. has been a member of the USA Wrestling family for over a decade. He won a bronze medal for Team USA in men’s freestyle at the 2016 U17 World Championships held in Tbilisi, Georgia, and is a three-time winner of USA Wrestling’s Triple Crown, which goes to any wrestler who wins folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman national titles during a season.
Prior to transferring to Oregon State as a graduate student last year, Wittlake Jr. competed under coaching legend John Smith at Oklahoma State University for five years and was a NCAA All-American in 2021, placing fourth at the national tournament at 165 pounds. He was a four-time high school state champion in Oregon for Marshfield High School.