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The Ups and Downs of a Wrestler
“Once you’ve wrestled, everything in life
is easy!” is one of the famous quotes by Dan Gable. That can be very true.
Wrestling is the second most conditioned sports second to boxing and one
of the most physically and mentally demanding sports of all time.
Wrestling is one of the oldest sports ever. If only people would
understand how demanding the sport is and then people would probably
respect wrestling a little more. I get a lot of those basketball players
making fun of me because I wrestle. That is just the stupidest thing to
say. If they would actually go to a wrestling practice they would respect
it a lot more.
Well my name is Cory Kundert and I am a
youth wrestler for the Monroe Mat Rats. I love wrestling. It is my
favorite sport by far and now that there is a real pro wrestling it makes
me want to work harder to be as successful of a wrestler as I can be. My
goal is to be the greatest wrestler to ever to walk this earth and I might
not ever get that good but it gives me something to think about when I
think I am done with a workout I can just go for a little longer and a
little longer so I can try to be the “walking legend” so to speak. Dan
Gable had the same mentality. After his sister got murdered he dedicated
himself to the sport of wrestling. He trained even harder to become the
greatest wrestler he could be. If you think like that you are more likely
to succeed than you are if you don’t think that way.
I started wrestling in the first grade. I
was a chubby little kid. I wasn’t the greatest wrester but I still loved
wrestling. I went to my first tournament in the second grade where I
weighed 75 pounds and got second place out of three people. I got a little
better in third grade. I weighed 100 pounds and I made it to state for the
first time in my life. Even though I had a two man bracket I still got
first at my regional and was smoked at state losing out in the third
round. I had a bye the first round, then I lost to the guy that eventually
got sixth place. Then I went to the losers bracket and lost a match that I
should of won. So I was knocked out of the state tournament. This was the
last year that DC Everest hosted it and I think it was the only year. What
an experience!
In fourth grade I didn’t do much. I
didn’t win many matches but I still loved wrestling. Fifth grade was about
the same. I was still a roly poly but that was the last year I was.
Sixth grade was probably one of the best
wrestling years of my life. I didn’t have a point scored on me until about
my third tournament. I won six matches in a row without a point even being
scored on me. I had pinned two kids and tech-falled one kid. Then I went
into overtime against a really good kid. I beat him with about one second
left in the first overtime. That was an exciting match. My next match
wasn’t very fun. Well maybe a little bit. I was beating this short kid 6-2
and this kid got an escape. I shot in for a double leg and my elbows were
out and he did a cow catcher and put me on my back. By that time he had
gotten a five point move and I never got off my back. He beat me 7-6. I
should have won that match. The next week I beat him 12-1. The week after
I beat him 10-8 in overtime but I was kind of sick. The last week of the
year I beat him 12-6.
My season went into shambles on February
25 2004. I was practicing with one of my buddies at practice and he took
me down but I tried a quick switch and my leg got caught. I screamed out
in horror because it was my first serious injury of my career. This was
about two weeks before regionals and I had a record of 21-1 and on my way
to state most likely. Even though the guys in my bracket got 4th
and 6th at state I could of beat them. I got rushed to the
emergency room by my mom after I got carried out to the car. I had to get
x-rays and I eventually had to get an MRI for my knee. It was determined
that I had a dislocated kneecap after speculations that it was an ACL or
something like that. My season was over at that very minute.
I went to the high school state
tournament the next day. It was a great tournament I may add as my friend
Corey Binger captured a state title at 119 pounds against a tough wrestler
named Sergio Mireles.
I wrestled at 125 pounds last year when I
got hurt. I guess I had a growth spurt or something because I’m up to
about 155 pounds this year. I wrested for the Monroe Middle School team as
I ended that with a record of 12-4 wrestling most of the toughest kids
they had on the other team. I beat a lot of great 8th graders
this year. At the Monroe youth wrestling tournament I had to wrestle the
best wrestlers there. The first match I got pinned in 1:34 to a good
friend from Monticello. Then I had to wrestle a pretty tough guy from
Kenosha that I pinned with about five seconds left in the match.
I knew I had a tough match
my last time. I had a really good leg rider from Brodhead. My friend beat
him 9-5 but I knew I still would have a tough match. I went out there
aggressive and took him down. He was trying to stand up and he attempted a
standing Granby. As he was flipping in the air I was falling to the mat
and my head hit the mat and tucked in and I knew I hurt my neck. I
screamed out in horror because all I could think of was that article that
Paul Adamski wrote about his son. The ref stopped the match and I laid
there on the mat. The trainer put a collar on my neck and asked me some
questions. I lost feeling in my left arm. After about five minutes he
asked me if I wanted to continue and I said “I’ll try it.” He was a little
hesitant to send me out there but I went out there any way.
Thank god for my coaches
for being there to pump me up. They kept telling me that I was better then
he was and I could take him. I went out there and got an escape. I took
him down with my favorite move and I did it to perfection. The fireman’s
carry was really good. He got a switch on me and my re-switch didn’t work.
He controlled me the rest of the period. He eventually beat me 12-5 and
that was the hardest match of my life.
About two weeks before that
tournament I was wrestling at Cuba City and I lost to this kid I was
wrestling the week before. In this match I was beating him 2-1 and he took
me down. That was really bad. I messed up my knee again. After about
another five minutes (again its youth) and I got up walked it off and
wrestled. He got the takedown when I got hurt. So I was down. The score
was 2-3 in his favor and he eventually pinned me. My knee felt really bad
and I couldn’t continue the rest of the tournament. I would of wrestled a
really good wrestler who wrestler one of my buddies from Juda last year.
My buddy beat him three times but he was still a really good wrestler. He
got third place at state two years ago and I think he’ll be contending for
a state title this year.
“Pain is temporary, pride is forever.”
That quote really relates to me along with this one “Never let yesterdays
disappointments overshadow tomorrow’s dreams.” I will place those quotes
in my heart and recite them in my head all the time. Wrestling is life and
life is good. Wrestling season is my favorite season of all time. I hope
that you’ve enjoyed the ups and downs of my wrestling career. I still have
five more years (at least) with the beauty of the sport. So I hope you can
see me up at state this year and many years to come. |