The Iowa State Wrestling program announced on Monday that 133-pound wrestler redshirt junior Austin Gomez is medically retiring from wrestling because of injuries and concern for his health.

In a tweet, Gomez wrote about his injuries, his experiences with wrestling throughout his life and what the sport meant to him.

“I had to sit down with myself, our athletic trainer, doctors, coaches, and my family to make this decision,” Gomez said in the press release. “Although I feel like I have so much more fight left in me, my health has to come first when dealing with this injury.”

Gomez also said he thought he’d wrestle until his body told him he couldn’t, but that God has a different plan for him than he did.

“Wrestling has taken me so far in life and I can’t thank the Iowa State staff for everything they have done for me while being able to compete,” Gomez said.

Iowa State Head Coach Kevin Dresser wrote in the press release about the loss of Gomez.

“We want nothing but the best for Austin,” Dresser said. “His health and well-being is first and foremost.”

Dresser said although they only saw Gomez on the mat for a short period of time, Gomez brought excitement to the map with his style of wrestling.

In the 2018-19, Gomez had a 24-7 record, finished third in the Big 12 Championship and qualified for the NCAA Championship.

He also was a 2018 Junior World Team member.

Gomez said his plan is to stick around with the team, help motivate them to reach their goal and to teach the sport of wrestling to kids and other wrestlers around the country.