Wrestling is a special sport. Not only is it one of the hardest sports, but in my opinion one of the most rewarding sports. If you put in a lot of work, it shows. If you slack in practices, don’t work out, or in general take it lightly, it shows. That’s why I like it so much. Because you know that if you put in the right amount of work, and do what you’re supposed to do, you’re going to do good. I went to state the first year I could, and that was in 3rd grade, and it is a memory I will never forget.
To get to state before high school, there is only one tournament to get to state and that’s regionals. In regionals, you can have up to a 32-man bracket, and they only take the top two place winners. But I ended up with a 20-man bracket, which in my eyes was massive, but my dad told me if I won 3 matches in a row, the lowest I could place is second. So, I went 100% all my matches, because I always dreamt of going before I could. My first 2 matches were easy as I can remember, but I can still see the 3rd one in my head. I went to state every year after that besides 2 years, 4th and 6th-grade year, but this one year still sticks in my head. The reason why I remember it so well is because it was the first time I wrestled when there were only 2 mats set up instead of 6, and one of the mats was for 1st and second place, and one was for 3rd place for a chance of a wrestle back. I was wrestling for first, and at that moment I could feel everyone watching me. The match ended up going into overtime, and I got the match-winning takedown right away in the period. I got up and it was the time I realized that if you set a goal, you must work very hard to accomplish them. But I had goals for after state, and how I wanted to do at the state tournament.
The week before the state tournament, I had to cut 5 pounds to get back to the 80-pound bracket otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to wrestle. Weigh-ins for state were Saturday morning, so this meant I had 5 days. This was the first time I had to cut that much weight in a short amount of time, because for regionals I was cutting the weight slowly, and didn’t realize that if I ate a lot throughout the weekend it would change my weight. I worked hard the entire week to get down to my weight. The way I did it was by dieting and running a lot. Doing this in third grade, made me realize how brutal the sport is, and there are no short cuts that work in the long run, but I found a way to enjoy it. On Friday, the last day of practice, I was right on weight weighing 80 pounds. But that meant I couldn’t eat until Saturday after weigh-ins.
I woke up Saturday morning at 5 to get ready for the car ride because weigh-ins were at 10, and I wanted to be there as soon as I could so I could eat again. At first, I didn’t think that the car ride would be that bad because I thought I would be able to sleep. Soon was I to realize, that being super excited and trying to sleep don’t go together, so the entire way there I would be crabby because I was hungry. But, at about 10:30 we made it there, weighed in, and got to eat. Luckily, I took first at regionals, so I didn’t have to wrestle the night of weigh-ins because if you lose, you’re done. I didn’t start to get nervous until about 7 the night before in the hotel. It was my first-time wrestling at state, and I didn’t want to waste the hard work I put in. Eventually, I finally fell asleep ready for the next day.
Going to the Kohl’s center, I was extremely nervous. When we got there, I had no clue what to do and I was almost in shock. The place was so big, and the lights were so bright, it was like a new world for me, and it was way more than I expected. There are mats from all of the top schools in Wisconsin there, and I just thought it was so amazing wrestling in the spotlight, because I would watch our high school duals and think it was so cool wrestling with everyone watching.
Walking out for my first match, I was super nervous, and was scared to go out there. But then I realized that the first match I had was against a person I already beat in the season. Walking out to shake hands was a very nerve breaking time because after that, it just felt like another match, but with way more on the line. I won my first match by pinning the other person and raising my hand for the first time at the Kohl’s Center felt amazing. You could hear the crowd cheering, and it was a different experience.
My next match was a way different story. When I saw the person I was wrestling, I knew it was going to be a close match. I ended up losing that match because I got too nervous to shoot my shot. I was down by 1 at the beginning of the 3rd period, and I just kind of froze up. It was the first time I was losing in a crucial moment and was afraid to mess up. I ended up losing by 4, because the other kid shot and took me down with about 30 seconds left. I was very upset, but my dad told me something along the lines of “if you wrestle nervous, you’re not going to do how you want to do.” So, I took that advice and carried on. Before my next match, my dad said, “Remember what I told you, and go out there and have fun” So, I did exactly that. Not saying I wasn’t nervous; I was nervous knowing that if I lost, I was done for the year. I ended up winning that match by 3 points, which boosted my confidence. At this point, I had to win this match and the next match to go for 3rd, which I did. My first match I won my 5, against a person who was probably better than me, but I just really wanted it. In the second one, which I was super nervous for, I won by 2 in overtime. It was tied up 2-2 and the next takedown won. I knew I had a really good shot, and I did it in regionals in the same situation. So, I did the same thing. I shot in, and as I got up from him, I knew I was going on to the third-place match, which was the first time I this amazing feeling in wrestling, knowing that I made it to my goal. At this point, I had so much adrenaline in me that I crashed and took a nap because I had over 4 hours until I wrestled because placement matches weren’t until 7, and it was only about 3.
When I woke up, it was like I was in a dream, it didn’t feel real. Right when I woke up, I looked at the clock and it was about 5:30. So I got up and started warming up. When I got on the mat the nerves hit me hard. There were a lot of people there, and my entire family there to watch me. As I was working my moves, everything felt super good. Yes, I was still super nervous, but I was trying to use them in the most useful ways possible. As seven o’clock rolled around, that’s when a new type of nerves kicked in. All I heard was a faint buzz and a little bit of yelling and cheering. As I watched the matches before me, I saw how everyone was going there absolute hardest, and leaving everything out on the mat for this one match. About 2 matches before mine, I got super scared that I was going to mess up everything I have worked for. As I got undressed and pull my finals singlet up, I was ready. I was running on adrenaline, nerves, and the need to win at this point. When I went out to shake my opponents’ hand, he looked big (really big for a 3rd grader in my eyes) and I’m pretty sure he could see the fear in my eyes. In the first period no one made any moves, just trying to see what each other were capable of doing. Going into the second period I had the choice of top, bottom, neutral, or defer. I picked bottom because it was always my strongest position, and my coaches agreed. Within 20 seconds, I got up and was on my feet giving me a point. Then, running off adrenaline, I took a shot that I have always practiced. But everyone knew the shot I took, and if they knew it was coming, it wasn’t too hard to stop. I got stuffed and he took me down. This is where I got scared. I got out again, and as I was going in to tie up with the opponent, he got in really deep on a body lock, and put me to my back, with everything I had, I tried and tried to get out, but I just couldn’t. He pinned me. I shook his hand, shook his coaches’ hand and went over to my coach and dad. Right away my dad hugged me, and my coach hugged me. They didn’t tell me what I did wrong, and just said how proud they are of me for making it this far and placing top 4. After that, I went up to the stands and hugged my mom, and after I went on the podium and got my plaque and left the stadium. On the car ride home, a few lessons came to me. The only way to get better is to take your losses and not only learn from them, but to use them as a reason to get better, and a reason to want to get better. Another lesson I learned is that no matter how I do, my parents will always support me through my success and my losses. Little did I know, this was only the begining.