It may survive the damage, young trees can survive a lot.
It will not survive being planted as deep as it is. I am guessing at least 9-12" by the look of it.

I think it looks like it's planted too deep with the angle of the picture, but I was pretty careful to make sure that right where the trunk starts to flare is slightly above the ground.

Many people are fooled by a false flare. That is where the trunk may have swelled a little. Trees grown in big nurseries are frequently re-potted several times, and not by plant people, but by minimum wage staff. Each potting the tree is often buried in the pot a little more. Some adventitious roots will grow near the ground and the trunk will flare somewhat. The real trunk flare is where the first few major roots meet the stem, and the tops of these should be visible.

I agree that it looks to be too deep. Also, any deer in the area?

tj

You can't tell from the picture but the mulch goes about 2-3 inches higher than the ground, I removed some mulch/dirt from around the trunk so that the flare is now clearly visible, hopefully that will help. There are deer in the area but usually they don't get as far as my house. I could clearly see some claw marks on it, would deer cause that? I also tried cleaning out the wound a bit so it can heal easier, keeping fingers crossed....

A buck rub could look like that, but, come to think of it, I've seen squirrel damage similar to that as well (though usually in spring).

Always good to keep mulch a few inches from the trunk.

tj

I would bet that is a deer buck rub. My Japs seem to to be able to handle it every year, the ones that I'm delayed in getting the trunk guards on that is. Good luck