Penn State wrestling’s Creighton Edsell announced on Wednesday that he’s stepping away from the program due to a serious back injury.

The redshirt junior is set to graduate this spring after competing at 165, 174, and 184 pounds for Penn State over the past few years.

“With graduating this spring and having a pretty serious back injury recently, I have decided to step away from the sport of wrestling,” Edsell said, noting he’s loved wrestling since he was 3 years old. “This is one of the hardest decisions that I have made in a long time.”

Edsell went 11-5 in the 2022 season, going 5-0 in the Big Ten conference. His most notable performance came from the annual Bryce Jordan Center dual when he took down Ohio State’s Kevon Freeman in a sudden victory win.

Edsell will leave Happy Valley as a three-time academic All-Big Ten honoree with an overall record of 28-10.

Despite his career coming to an early end, Edsell has nothing but praise for the program and his teammates, coaches, and fans.

“I just want to say thank you to everyone who has supported me and followed me not in college, but throughout my whole career,” he wrote in a statement.

Edsell was a Pennsylvania state champion in his junior year of high school and a three-time place winner before starting his campaign at Penn State.