You step into that ring, you and your foe get in the center, the whistle blows, and you are in that moment. It’s only you, your opponent, and the sound of the coaches voice. Everything else is blocked out. As if it was never there. Your mind goes blank, but your body reacts. You’re a lion in a plain of lions staring down the same illusive prey. Where survival is victory. Everything you have done to train, to push yourself past every breaking point, where tears and sweat has finally dried, bones have healed, and blood has clotted. That is where you know where you stand. There are no losers; only winners and learners.

When you line up with your team in that locker room, everything in your mind is to strike terror into your enemy. To shower the opposing side with a sign that they are not and will not be triumphant over us. You want them to dread the day they walked in that locker room with the aspect of conquering. As you step on that scale, weighing exactly what you need to, you give your competitor a look. A grin, that shows you’re not backing down and you are not giving up. You are going to keep coming forward. No matter how many points the scoreboard says for them. I will show them how great I am. I will find energy that did not exist. No matter how much pain I sustain. “It does not matter how hard you hit, it matters how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward” - Rocky Balboa

You’re sitting on the side of the mat. Cheering your team on. Then you see the person two weight classes below you step up. You get behind your team and start warming up. Running in place or shadow wrestling. Anything to get you warm or sweating a little. Then the person below you steps up. Your mind is going through many moves, pins, and loses. Your coach then snatches the back of your neck and says you are up. That moment where you rush down the line of your team, into the open crowd. You get to the table, say your name, jog to the center and put on your teams anklet. All you strive for in that instant is that pin. That moment for you to hold your rivals shoulders on that mat. For the referee to hold your hand high and to look in your coaches eyes, as he is proudly look back at you.

There’s a reason people say “Once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy”. To wrestle you must push away fears, you must know this is where your dreams are either destroyed or revealed. Your fears, doubts, and insecurity’s are ready to take you down. It is this one on one battle with yourself. It is emotionally, physically, and spiritually breaking. To push yourself farther than your breaking point, you have to give something up, to receive another. To train enough to become a champion, you will have to give up sleep, friends, and moments that will show you a new path. You may break bones, it will make you bleed, you will be immersed in sweat, and if you truly love this sport, you will cry. The road to giving up is simple, easy, and always there. The path to attainment will be hard, rough, and have a lot of downs. It’s up to you if you want to climb up, not take the door to get out. Challenge and prove to yourself you want this, only then will you become victorious.

As a wrestler, you’re never satisfied, we leave no opportunity behind. Once you achieve a goal, you are just going to aim for another. You won’t stop. You will only be slowed down. By an opportunity, that makes you be pushed in a new way. Where you are going to have to adapt, so you can surpass this chance. Everyone will look at you, with a questionable look. They will make fun of you, they will laugh, saying you don’t need this, that it is dumb. Then after you achieve it, they will ask a question. A simple one worded question that showed you it was worth giving up all of those things. Worth the time, effort, and all the pain you felt. They will ask you... How?