Going For Glory

State wrestling season. By the time you read this, the girls session will been completed the boys will be right in the thick of things.Sports are seasonal, except wrestling. Wrestling is a lifestyle. You are always ready, always in shape and then the season happens and you kick it up a notch.Then when you reach districts and state, it is kicked up an additional notch.I have seen many friends and family over the years get ready for the season. A nephew that had to cut weight, so he pretty much smelled Thanksgiving dinner one year.Friends in high school had to not play a pick up game of basketball because they didn’t want to get injured and miss districts. Everyone involved with the sport has a tale to tell. It is something you live, every day, until you give up the sport.Muscle memory is something that never goes away. I am sure there are dads out there right now that can drop into stance and shoot in on someone at the drop of a hat. I have a brother that notes that a buddy of his still does 500 squats a day, all while in his 50s, all because he still can.Discipline, skill, technique and talent all combine to make a wrestler. Those that have that little extra in each of those categories become champions. One of my favorite memories of covering the high school state wrestling tournament was a young man won his second state title. It was his senior year and he was not continuing on to college with wrestling.He ran to the stands and his mother handed him a king size Snickers. He was filled with joy as he ate the candy bar right there.I asked him later what that was all about, “I haven’t had candy since I was like six-years-old,” he told me, noting his career was finished and he could not indulge in some sweets. His plan for the evening was going to an ice cream shop, something else he hadn’t had in years.Good luck to every wrestler going to state this year, the rewards include memories for a lifetime, and maybe some candy.

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