Mitch Wasik spent years forming his philosophy on physical rehabilitation, believing that no two people are the same, and therefore each injury is unique. And if you ask most in the SF State athletic department, there isn't anyone quite like Mitch.

"An ankle sprain is not an ankle sprain," he rationalizes.

With over 20 years of athletic training experience, Wasik, who has been SF State's head athletic trainer for 11 years, will be leaving for Indiana State University in the fall.

"A huge part of our decision was family," said Wasik, whose in-laws and father live in Indiana. "Both sets of parents are getting older, and we couldn't pass this opportunity up."

Wasik's 14-year-long career with SF State entered its final stages when his wife got a call about job openings at ISU. Wasik landed the head football athletic trainer position while his wife is taking over as chair of ISU's athletic training department.

"This opportunity fell into our lap," he said. "We weren't even looking for it."

"Mitch was one of the first people I met when I arrived at SF State," said team physician Dr. Sekou Ford. "We've had a good, close working relationship ever since."

Ford explains that most doctors diagnose an injury and set a specific amount of healing time before an injured athlete can compete. Wasik, Ford said, takes a more psychological approach.

"He sees these guys on a day-to-day basis. He has a better way of dealing with a person's emotional response. He's a good guy and I'm definitely going to miss him."

Though Wasik's job is to rebuild an athlete's body back to competitive form, he is also there to educate.

"I have a huge responsibility over them," Wasik said. "I try to educate them and teach them to make good decisions."

Wasik's approach is to make an athlete listen to his own body. If an injured wrestler wants to compete, Wasik will ask him to make certain body movements. For example, if a wrestler fails to raise his arm a certain height, Wasik will pose the question: do you think it's a good idea to wrestle like that?

"I'm the rational voice they don't want to listen to," Wasik said. "But there are times when I say 'No, you are not going to do this.'"

Though Wasik, 40, oversees all of the Gator's athletes, he works primarily with wrestling.

"It's gonna be kind of sad to see him leave," said head wrestling coach Lars Jensen. "But he's going on to bigger and better things."

"I am sure I will continue to follow Gator athletics," Wasik said, noting that his connection to the school is through the people he interacts with. "I have a feeling that when wrestling travels to the Midwest, I'll drive three of four hours to see them. But the next group of kids, I'm not going to have that connection with them."

One particular group of wrestlers that Wasik has established a close connection with are the four wrestling Lockett brothers. "I've been through all of them," he said of Donald, Virgil, Ali and Ben. Ben, however, is the last brother to compete and is entering his final collegiate season. "I kind of feel bad for not being here for Ben's senior year."

"I feel kind of cheated," said Lockett, noting that Wasik had been there for the entire careers of his older brothers. "I wanted him here for my last season. Every time I had an injury, he was always there for me."

Wasik was there for Lockett when he sprained his MCL.

"I was real worried about it, but he calmed me down. He told me, 'You're not going to lose any of your cardio, you're going to wrestle great, it's all in your mind,'" Lockett said. "He's going to be here a long time, even after he's gone, with all the stories we have about him."

Though the head trainer position will be filled next semester, Jensen acknowledges that Wasik is "irreplaceable."

"He understands wrestling. Whoever we get to replace him, it's going to take a couple years to break them in," Jensen said. "He's like a coach. He's been here so long."

Wasik's wife and future colleague, Dr. Leamor Kahanov, said that her husband has a way about him that endears him with the athletes.

"I think anyone who employs Mitch will be lucky to have him," she said.

Kahanov and Wasik met during graduate school at the University of Arizona in Tucson. She is currently the director of graduate athletic training at San Jose State University, and previously worked over Wasik for three years as Head Athletic Trainer at SF State.

Originally from Westwood, a small town in Northeast California, Wasik first fell in love with sports medicine while taking an extra class at Shasta College. On the advice of a roommate, Wasik took Intro to Athletic Training to fulfill his full-time status for financial aid.

"After the first three classes, I realized this is what I wanted to do," Wasik said.

Twenty years and two kids later, athletic training is still what he wants to do.