Zach Bronson is a College fourth-year double majoring in Economics and Law and Society. In his senior year of high school, he underwent ACL reconstruction surgery to repair his anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus. Six months later, he sprained his MCL, leading to a fully torn ACL for the second time in under a year. Almost two years later, he tore it again. His perseverance in spite of his injuries is a testament to his emotional fortitude. Zach is gearing up and ready to tackle his last season at Oberlin.
In the spring of 2021, fourth-year Zach Bronson was getting ready for his senior high school season when he fully tore his ACL and slightly tore his meniscus. Because he was injured just a few months prior to the start of the season, he accepted his fate of not being able to play in his final year.
While sitting out his last year as a high school player, Bronson also had to overcome the challenge of experiencing a serious injury like this for the first time.
“ I didn’t know what it took to come back from such a significant injury, what it even felt like,” Bronson said. “ I had no idea what I was doing.”
During recovery, Bronson underwent surgery and rehabed the entire summer. About halfway through his recovery process, his freshman year began, and he made the trip out to Oberlin to start his collegiate career.
As if freshman year isn’t hard enough, Bronson had to relearn his own identity.
“[In high school] I identified as a basketball player, and that was what I thought to be the best part of my identity,” Bronson said. “So coming here, I didn’t really have that identity yet. I had never felt that sort of self-consciousness, where I was insecure about my identity, which was really weird for me.”
After a hard couple of months, in the fall of his freshman year, Bronson strained his MCL. He took a step back and went to rehab, but then partially tore his ACL a month later. While returning to the court could be risky, his doctors told him he was still okay to play.
Then, in April 2022, almost one year after his first injury, he fully tore his ACL again.
“ I should have taken the full year to recover,” Bronson said. “I kind of rushed back into it, did too much. And had a string of injuries that led me to retear it.”
Bronson scheduled his second surgery for May and returned home for the summer. He then spent multiple months in rehab and even took the next semester off. He spent the fall of his second year at home continuing to rehab and take care of his knee. Bronson then rejoined the team on campus a couple of months later in the spring.
This was the turning point in Bronson’s recovery. He returned to Oberlin and began seeing a new physical therapist at T3 Performance in Avon. Bronson expressed his gratitude for this new therapist.
“After I started going to [T3 Performance], everything sort of turned around,” Bronson said. “[My therapist] knew what she was doing, and she made sure that my body was right before I got back.”
Not only did this new physical therapist help Bronson get his body back in shape, but she also helped his mind get there. After many sessions connecting his mind and body, Bronson gained a better understanding of who he was, not only as a basketball player but as a person.
“After the second time, I sort of realized, ‘okay, I can’t just keep letting this define me,’” Bronson said. “I started to branch out a little bit, get out of my comfort zone, and meet new people.”
After all of this, Bronson then went on to play for almost two full years. He completed his third-year season contributing to the team on and off the court. He then played for most of his fourth year when the unimaginable happened on Senior Night in February 2025. He tore his ACL again for the third time in five years.
“I was at a point where I thought that I was fully done with it,” Bronson said. “I [thought] this summer I’m going to get out of the brace and move on and get past it. And then just hit me like a truck again.”
After what felt like rock bottom, the situation got worse. The timeline to get surgery and play in the upcoming season wasn’t lining up. No matter how he looked at it, his collegiate career was over.
Or so he thought.
While in rehab, his physical therapist brought up the idea of playing without getting surgery. The idea baffled him.
“ I was thinking about calling it … I didn’t really wanna put my knee at risk down the line,” Bronson said. “I want to be able to walk when I’m 50.”
After many discussions with his doctors and physical therapists, he was finally given the choice of whether to play without an ACL or to never play collegiate sports again.
“ I could give it a go, or I could call it,” Bronson said. “I [thought] if there’s a chance, I have to try.”
While this was an extremely hard decision, Bronson knew no matter what he chose, he would be supported. Not only by his family and his team, but also by the friends he made throughout his time at Oberlin.
“I kind of had this circle that I was really close with,” Bronson expressed. “[They] helped me get through this and helped me remember who I was.”
With the absolute worst behind him, Bronson has been getting ready for his final season at Oberlin. While he has gone through many ups and downs, his role continues to grow as a leader.
With such a talented and close-knit group of players, Bronson is sentimental to only have one season left. However, he is going to give it his all and give back everything he can.
“It’s an honor to feel like one of the leaders on the team, especially of such a talented team,” Bronson said.
