ARCADIA -- A year ago today, Tyler Shook lay in Peyton Manning Children's Hospital, undergoing his first round of chemotherapy for a rare form of cancer.

Twelve months later, and six months after finishing chemotherapy, the senior is back on the Hamilton Heights wrestling team, picking up right where he left off as a sophomore. 

"He's trying to get back to normal," said Shook's mother, Debi Hilton. "He's trying to focus on his wrestling and school and things like that. He's certainly not 100 percent, but he's slowly coming back, which I think is just fantastic to watch him come back from where he was."

Shook, who was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, actually competed in June -- a month after finishing chemotherapy -- at the Disney Duals in Orlando, Fla.

"I didn't do very good at all, but it was fun for me to be back out there," Shook said. "When I was coming back, it was hard . . . but I'm coming back."

After wrestling at 215 as a freshman, Shook was a regional qualifier at 189 as a sophomore. He was set to wrestle at 171 last season, and after competing at 152 in the Disney Duals, is back at 171.

"He had a rough time at Disney, but we were glad he went," said second-year Heights coach Rick Willoughby. "We went there for fun. As a team, we just wanted the kids to wrestle and go to Disney World."

While he was sick, Shook was certain he would wrestle for the Huskies again, but his coach wasn't so sure.

"Honestly, I didn't think he would," Willoughby said. "He's a lot farther along than I thought he would be. After seeing how much strength he had lost when we went to Disney, I thought he would have a very hard time making it into our lineup."

After going 1-3 in the season-opening Husky Super 6, Shook went 4-1 Saturday at the Wawasee Duals, helping Heights to a runner-up team finish.

"Just his improvement over the last two weeks, from last week to this weekend, you could tell he was stronger," Willoughby said. "He knows the moves, and he's doing the right stuff and he's better than some of the kids he's wrestling right now.

"It's just a matter of finishing the moves he's running. Just his strength hasn't caught up yet, and we're hoping by the end of the year, his strength will get back to where it was."

Shook returns to his doctor every six weeks for a checkup. Applebee's and Heights' Key Club raised close to $3,000, and an Eagle Riders motorcycle ride in August raised $9,700 to help with medical expenses. A couple of wrestling moms sold "Shook 171" ribbons at meets last season.

"Just tremendously, it's helped," Hilton said. "I have pretty good insurance, but the co-pays are just phenomenal when you go in and out of the hospital and you have to see four and five doctors at a time, and they're doing this test and that test. I don't know how I would have ever done it without the support that we have."

Shook made it to all but two meets last season to support his teammates.

"That was hard," Shook said. "It was hard watching everyone out there getting better, and I couldn't do anything. I can tell that I'm not necessarily as good as I used to be, and it's kind of frustrating."

"He's a very competitive kid," Willoughby added. "He does not like to lose. We just have to keep reining him in and say 'Hey, you need to keep getting your strength up.' "

And if that happens, look out.

"Actually, I can tell that I'm improving every match, and it just keeps getting better," Shook said. "I'm just trying to help our team do the best we can do and come back and do the best I can do."

"If he keeps making improvements from week to week and gaining his strength back, I think by the time January rolls around, he will be very capable of making semistate," Willoughby added. "If he gets his strength back, he could be dangerous."