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Successful
by Delanis Harris
The sport of wrestling isn’t the most popular sport among high
school students in the city district. The amount of fans that show
up to the meets is nowhere near the amount of people who attend the
basketball and football games. They really aren’t aware of how much
hard work it takes to become even semi-successful in this demanding
sport. There are grueling practices, agonizing defeats, and a lot
of conditioning. In order to become a good high school wrestler, it
takes a combination of dedication, determination, and a lot of
perspiration.
It’s a
long, challenging road to becoming a successful wrestler. I was an
eighty-five pound freshman when I was lured into the sport. I
practiced with a partner who was just as new to the sport as I was.
Though he outweighed me by about forty pounds, he wasn’t as strong
or aggressive as I was. I was executing techniques and dominating
our sessions at will. My coaches noticed this early, and convinced
me that since I would be competing against other athletes about my
size, I was sure to be successful. These praises raised my
confidence level. Little did I know how quickly this would change.
They sent me to an All-City practice at Hamilton High School. There
were wrestlers there with years of experience over me. Since I was
the new face, they made sure I knew who they were. I got slammed
all day long. Every inch of my body was sore. The next day, I was
so stiff that I could barely get out of bed rather than walk to
school. My confidence was shattered. I wanted to quit. When I
told my coach about what had happened, he explained to me that
nobody becomes great at anything overnight. It takes work. He told
me that losing is also an important part of the sport. He said, “I
bet you don’t want to feel like that again. You know what you have
to do.” That is when I realized that I was going to have to put in
a lot of work outside of the practices we had if I was going to be
great.
Over the
summer, I lifted weights and jogged daily. I also gained ten
pounds. My coach explained to me that it would be in my best
interest to stay in the 103 pound weight class, and in order to do
that I would have to watch my eating habits. I’ve always been
small, so the last thing that I was worried about was if I was
eating too much, but I realized that if I was going to stay in the
same weight class throughout my career, that was a sacrifice that I
would have to be willing to take.
As my
sophomore season prolonged, I improved bit by bit. I took my losses
and used them to motivate me to work harder in the weight room so
that it wouldn’t happen again. Yet, I noticed that though I was
stronger than some of my opponents, they were still able to defeat
me. My coach then explained to me that strength wasn’t the only
deciding factor in the sport. It takes technique and overall
knowledge of the sport to advance to the next class of competitors.
In order to gain this, I would need to spend more time on the mat.
Over the
summer, I practiced at the YMCA with the Custer wrestling team. We
practiced twice during the week and went to tournaments all over
state on weekends. Since I was working and had dedicated so much of
my time to the sport, I barely had any time for social activities.
While my friends were partying and having fun, I was working on
perfecting crossfaces, leg shots, and back suplexes. This
off-season experience was very useful to me at developing my skills
as a wrestler.
I had
come to a level where I was confident in my abilities, and was
noticed by the wrestling community as a favorite for the City
Conference title behind a wrestler from North Division named Dou
Moua. He and his older brother had beaten me the year before. When
we met for the first time my junior season, I was sure I could beat
him. In the match, I made some mistakes and he capitalized on
them. As a result, I wound up losing the match. I did identify
some his weaknesses though. By this time, I understood the
importance of losing and was determined to correct my mistakes and
focus on his weaknesses. When we met at the City Tournament Finals,
I defeated him by five points, becoming the City Conference Champion
in the 103 pounds weight class. I’ll never forget that feeling of
being overjoyed and knowing that I made everyone who cared enough to
get me this far proud of me.
I
wasn’t done. Over the summer, I continued to train and go to
tournaments. My senior season, my coaches and I focused on me
qualifying for and placing at the State-Folkstyle Tournament. I was
the defending City Conference Champion and there was nobody in the
city remotely close to taking to taking my title. I breezed through
my season remaining undefeated until the sectionals meet a week
before state. I lost in the finals to another ranked area wrestler
from Mukwonago, but I still qualified. I was the first wrestler
that my head coach, Gino Antoniak, had ever qualified for State.
I’ll never forget wrestling in that packed Kohl Center in Madison,
Wisconsin.
Unfortunately, I only wrestled well enough to win two of my four
matches and wasn’t able to place. I then did something that I
thought I would never do in the sport. I cried. I knew that it was
all over and all of the goals that my coach and I had set had not
been completed. Once again, my coach dispersed his wisdom upon me.
He explained to me that through the sport of wrestling, I was able
to learn the importance of hard work and sacrifice. It also taught
me that even though you lose, to get up, learn from your mistakes
and keep working at it now matter how hard it seems. He told me to
take what I have learned from the sport and apply it to real life.
He stated that these were his goals as a coach from the beginning.
In
life, there are many obstacles that one must overcome in order to
get where he or she wants to go. Once one gets there, they must
strive to be considered the best in that class. Their work ethics
must surpass those of their peers’. Hard work and persistence is
the only way to become good at something. This is what I learned
from wrestling, and these are the keys to becoming successful.
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