States was very fun. It was up north, maybe two hours away and it was a two day event. We stayed at a hotel the day before so we could arrive when it started in the morning. The night before I didn't want to sleep because I was anxious about tomorrow. When I woke up the next day, we drove to the arena which was about 20 minutes away. When I arrived there were so many wrestlers all over. It was pretty cool meeting some of the wrestlers that were there. I didn't really recognize much people other than my teammates of course. After we warmed up and got ready to wrestle my heart really started pumping. My first match was against a small but strong guy. It was pretty crazy wrestling in this place. There were so many people watching which put so much more pressure. When the match begun me and the guy were pretty equal, but then he started to over power me and ended up winning in the second period. My next match I knew I had to win or else I was out of the tournament. I cleared my mind and wrestled my second opponent. He was doing much better the first period than I was, scoring one point. The second period I was more offensive and took him down for a point. Third my opponent tried taking me down and I flipped him over and pinned him. I was very happy. My third match I gave it all I had but who I was wrestling was very good. He was just strong and knew what he was doing. He ended up beating me but I wasn't that mad because I won one match, which I was proud of. The season was very fun and exciting and I'm happy were I ended. This is my last blog so The End.

Now that the season over I can finally lay back and relax. It went surprisingly well to be honest. Starting off at districts I got 2nd place so i secured my place for regionals. Regionals is when it gets pretty hard. The first wrestler i wrestled beat me by a pretty close match. There was no way i was going to loos and not make it too states, so I really cleared my mind and just focused it all on wrestling. The next match I beat the kid pretty quick pinning him in the 3rd period. This match was the most important, because if I won I go to states and if I lost I would get 5th place, meaning my season would be over. I went up too the matt and shook my opponents hand and we started wrestling. The first period was really active but we both couldn't really score on each other because of strong defense. Second period same thing no points it was pretty slow. Before the third period started my coach told me I needed to push my self right now. I went in and just wrestled hard I got one takedown which gave me the lead two to zero. My opponent started to become very active as the period was ending because he needed to score. I was defending best I could and finally I heard the buzzer go off and I knew I was going to states.

The season is almost over for club. We have just been practicing a lot and working drills. Not much has happened. The last tournaments we have are club districts, regionals, and states. This is the time really to not make mistakes. If you get top 4 in districts than you move on to regionals and vice versa. Districts I'm not to worried about, as i beat most of the people that i know are going to be there. Regionals is a little harder because your kind of filtering the better kids out from the worst, so you won't see the best wrestlers but you will see good ones. If you get top 4 in regionals you move on too states which is definitely the hardest out of the three obviously. This is were there are only good wresters. You'll see state champs and just kids that know what there doing. In all the tournaments its double elimination, meaning if you loose twice your out. Im pretty ready I just need to make it too club states and ill be good. The point is I want to end my club season off good and happy. I want to be satisfied because the worst feelings is not being satisfied with how you did, and that will haunt and annoy you forever.

So as we continue the tournament I won the only match so far. Next was against a new wrestler. That can be kind of bad believe it or not because you don't know there potential. They could be amazing or not that great. This kid was really good. First period 4-0 he was up. Second period 5-0 still up. I was in the same situation as before just this time I was down by 5 points. The third period started and I noticed something. He started wrestling very sloppy making mistakes now and then because he was so tired. So, I used that too my advantage. When he would make even the slightest mistake I used it. I took a shot and got him down 2-5 still loosing. The match was almost over 45 seconds left. I score again making it 4-5 but while I score I put him on his back. If you get a wrestler on there back, its a pin and you automatically win. I held him down waited for the ref to end the match I made sure he was pinned and to my relief, I heard a whistle blow and I knew i won. My coach was proud of me, saying It was one of my better matches. I had 2 more matches too win to get first so that was my mind set and I was going to accomplish it, no matter what happens or who I wrestle.

The tournament was this weekend and it was a very hard one. It was one of those tournaments that you don't want to make any mistakes because if you did your opponent will use it too his advantage. We got to the tournament and did our normal routine of stretching and looking around at who was attending. You usually can see some other wrestlers that you've wrestled in the past and will most likely wrestle now. Since i'm one of the lightest weights I usually wrestle first so I always make sure too really stretch out and warm myself up. My first match was against someone that beat me in the past. I was worried but I knew I had too not let it bother me and not look at the past but present. Our match was almost up, I went down to the mats and got ready to wrestle. I went to the center of the mat shacked my opponents hand and we started wrestling. There's three period's in a match, each one being 2 minutes each. Two minutes might not seem like a lot.... till you try it. First period 0-0 none of us scored. Second period 1-0 he was up. Third period I knew I had to get myself together because i was not going to loose. I was already so tired but the third period I gave it all I had and ended up winning 2-1, with a take down late in the period.

The club season is almost over. We have a couple more matches and tournaments to attend. Practice has been the same, same drills same work outs. My coach wants me to work on my defense versus my offense. We had a knew person on the team wrestles about 165. He's decent not amazing but not bad either. The next tournament is coming up next week. There's gonna be some really good wrestlers because its a pretty popular tournament. At home I have too watch my weight because you need to be exactly or under your designated weight, if your over however than you cant wrestle. Cutting weight is such a pain and really hard but that's also why wrestling is such a great sport. It teaches life lessons that you take for the rest of your life. Its a very rigorous sport and very challenging. I just am ready for the tournament coming up next week. When i'm in season my mind is all about wrestling it's like nothing else matters except the sport. I feel healthiest when i'm in season because i can't eat any fatty foods and in general I feel better. I'm kind of mad that the season is coming too a end but it's not over yet and we still have matches to finish.

We wrestled some clubs last weekend. Out of 8 teams being there, we came in third. I had to wrestle two weight classes (120-125) since we didn't have a wrestler in the 125 weight class. I surprisingly did better in the heavier weight class but that's also because there are better wrestler in the 120 weight class than 125. As a team we got 3rd and individually I got second. My last match was against a kid in 125 that was state ranked last year. We had a good match that ended in with me loosing 3-4. I'm proud of my team for coming out third in the over all tournament. It's always good getting top 3, anywhere bellow that though is usually when our coach gets mad. In other news our 145 wrestler got injured in over time for the third and fourth match. He twisted his ankle and might be out for a week or two. The next tournament is in two weeks so will have plenty of time to practice. I think as a team were getting better. In practice we all understand our weaknesses and our strengths which makes us wrestle against each other better and learn more from each other.

Today I have an easy practice at 5. Since it's Friday it should be short. Yesterday I had a good practice, my coach wants me wrestling two weight classes for more practice. He think's if I wrestle the weight class (120 current weight) and (125 weight I would go up to.) I think this will be harder because in tournaments I will have to wrestle back to back, but it will help me improve my wrestling. I need to practice on my defense more because I've been giving up to many point's during my matches. My offense has been improving over the couple weeks and I'm certain I can execute the moves I need to use in matches efficiently. My next tournament is in a couple weeks and I'm looking to get first place this time. I don't like getting 3rd 4th let alone even 2nd, so this time I'm ready to get first. After practice today I'm probably going to do my daily work out of pushups, sit-ups, and running. I need to do this every day because it brings my cardio up and other than my defense in wrestling, my cardio is the next thing that needs to get better.

Wrestling takes a lot of discipline. There are many times, before a match, that I've had to wake up before sunrise to run  around the neighborhood to make sure that I stayed in my weight class.  I really enjoy all sports, but I think that wrestling has been my favorite and most difficult. There are many benefits with wrestling.  For example, you learn to eat healthy.  Since you're stuck in a weight class and you can't gain or lose weight, you need to be careful how you eat.  You can't stop eating, but you need to maintain your weight. Wrestling taught me the different types of food to eat, how to read food labels and be healthy.  Another benefit with wrestling is that it helps you develop physically.  The work outs I have with wrestling I didn't experience in most sports I did before.  I'll never forget having to push parked cars with my teammates around the parking lot in one of the practices. Another benefit with wrestling is that there's always a place for you on the team, no matter how skinny or big you are.  As long as you have the motivation, you'll find your weight class and can compete. Wrestling is a great sport that has taught me how to be disciplined.

 

Wrestling is  really old.   It has been mentioned in literature, like the Iliad.  It can be seen in Egyptian caves and old drawings from thousands of years ago.  I read that wrestling moves and people wrestling with each other has also been shown in old drawings, or reliefs, in Babylon and in caves in France. In the Middle Ages, wrestling was found all over different countries, including Japan.  Actually, wrestling is probably one of the oldest sports in history and has existed for longer than most sports. Wrestling was popular in Greece and in Rome.  But the wrestling in Rome wasn't as savage as the wrestling in Greece. The Greeks started wrestling as a way to train the soldiers in wars, to kill their enemies.  The Romans changed wrestling to be more of a sport and not a tool to kill.  The Olympic games, which started in Greece, had wrestling as one of their important sports.   How did wrestling get to the U.S.?  It actually was brought over from England by immigrants making the U.S. their home. They found out that Native Americans in the U.S. also liked wrestling. So wrestling was a sport that seemed to join many different cultures.

I bought some wrestling equipment. In most high school and college wrestling matches, the competitors wear singlets in their team colors. To present a competitor's color for scoring as well as a red or green anklet is worn. Outside school competition wrestlers bring a red and a blue singlet and are told before the match which color to wear. Singlets are also common among many of these are much more stylized than those worn by amateurs, although the use of singlets in professional wrestling has declined in the last two decade. The singlet did not become common in college wrestling until the late 1960s and early 1970s; in fact, it had been banned by the NCAA for years. Shirtless uniforms, including trunks and tights, were common until the NCAA banned shirtless wrestling in the mid-1960s. A new style of singlet, known as a double or doublet, has recently emerged in college wrestling that covers more of the upper body. Made of the same Lycra material, this singlet has more of a t-shirt covering than the traditional thin-strap singlet more commonly worn. This type of singlet is usually worn with accompanying tight-fitting shorts. This style of singlet is currently only allowed on the college level, although there is report that some high school wrestlers use this singlet style in practice sessions. Only with special permission are wrestlers allowed to wear a t-shirt under their singlet, most commonly for sanitary reasons involving excessive acne on the chest or back.

I had a tournament today where I went 1 and 1. My first match was easy with a quick pin. My second match though was very hard. I wrestled a State placer where I lost by 3 points. It was alright though because I at least get to go to day two. In practice we worked on stuff for our tournament. We needed to be prepared because there was going to be some really impressive wrestlers the next day. We practiced offense and shots, as well as defending when in tough situations. It was a good practice and I feel prepared for tomorrow, and ready. I had a quick practice and then went home. It was a long day in school and I'm just focused on getting some rest. It's hard to sleep when you know you have a tournament the next day. It's always so nerve racking and makes me soon edge. I'm going to focus more on my shot's and my attacks this time then on my defense. If I can score point's first i'll feel much more confident throughout the hole match. I'm just ready to come up on top tomorrow.

This is part two of my tournament I had. I lost one match yesterday and won one so I went to day two. I won my first match from a pin in the second period. My second match was close. I wrestled a pretty good wrestler who made it to States last year. I ended up winning 2-1 and it was a very close match. I now was on the finals for 3rd or 4th since I lost yesterday I couldn't qualify for 1st or second. I was so excited and pumped to wrestle because they make tournaments so exciting. They call your name, you go to the middle of the mat, shake your opponent's hand and go back. I then started warming up and getting ready to wrestle. When it was finally time it was a hell of a match. It ended up going into extra time were I sadly lose to one point. I wasn't happy about this because not getting 1st place is a kick to the face but not even winning your 3rd and 4th match is even a bigger kick to the face. Other than that it was a fun tournament. I wish I had done better but there isn't much I could do now and you just move on from it.

Wrestling

Today I had club practice at 6:00. We went over defense moves and counter moves. I had an alright practice, I did better when we went over attacking versus defensive. We had a good work out session and worked upper body today. In general it was a good practice like usual and I feel fairly alright about my performance. I feel like watching wrestling matches helps me a lot. I can learn some moves by watching others, then try to use them in practice. If I like the move then I'll keep practicing it till I feel like I'm comfortable with using the move. I met a Wrestler that wrestles for South Miami. We were talking about how much wrestling affects your life and how many "life lessons" it teaches you. Having conversations like these make me realize how lucky I am to be a Wrestler. When you meet a knew wrestler theres always a connection thats made. I always find it interesting talking to other wrestlers because you get there side to wrestling, and what they have been through. You always hear new exciting stories that always remind me why wrestling is such a fun and exciting sport.