Personal Narrative: My Wrestling Journey So Far

The first day of tryouts came around and I woke up that morning shaking with excitment and shear nervousness. I ate my bagel and chocolate milk, (a pregame ritual of mine) laced up my cleats, and was on my way. The second I got to the field I knew I was in for a long day. Most of the guys were double my size and looked like they were professionals. After a few days of the long, hard, and grueling tryout process the coaches posted the team on their website. When I saw my name wasn't on the list I felt spiteful, angry, even a little ashamed with myself. I knew I deserved a spot on that team and I was determined to claim it.

One of my biggest mistakes was quitting wrestling to play only football. That previous year, I won The Little Devil’s Wrestling Championship. I also was playing my 4th year of football for The Little Knights. I quit because as a 3rd grader, I wasn’t committed to daily practices for both sports. I 100 percent enjoyed football more. Therefore, at the time, I chose football over wrestling.

“Why Kid?” said, my grandfather. I replied, “simple, not everyone can do it, that why I love it. I love the grind, I love the self-torture, and of course the leading reason I look ripped in a singlet. Wrestling is one of the most demanding sports there is. The dedication, hard work, dieting, endless practices, and the everlasting season. Don't forget sectionals, then finally state. I can't tell you how many parties that I had to turn down during the season because I didn't want to be tempted to binge eat. The countless Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner I've had to give up. I felt like a dog watching everyone eat their honey roasted turkey.

Admittedly I’m not the best wrestler, but my hard work ethic and determination is what makes me exceptional. At the 2015 regionals I lost my first match of the tournament which really brought my spirits down quite a lot. Going into my second match I knew if I lost my season would be done, and sectionals would be out of question for me. I ran out onto the mat, my heart is pounding through my chest. I didn’t want to let my parents and coaches down again. The match started and instinctively I grabbed my opponent’s leg and pinned him in 23 seconds. Winning this match put me into the finals for third place. When I ran onto the match for the finals match my heart dropped when I saw the guy who beat me come out to wrestle me. This meant I had to wrestle the guy that beat me to get into sectionals. The match started and he took me down, so I

The most exciting moment was probably last year when I won conference. It was just a great feeling to beat somebody who I knew was also really good, and then just celebrate with my teammates and coaches afterwards.

The sun was shining brightly and the snow was melting outside on a beautiful March afternoon. Inside the Marian High School Wrestling room was an entirely different picture. Inside the room there was an intense off-season workout going on. Afterwards, the wrestlers and coaches all sat down, dripping in sweat, and began joking about the wrestlers who chose not to show up to the off-season workouts. My teammates, coaches, and I began making a list of the laziest wrestlers on our team. Jokingly, I asked my coach, “Where am I on that list?” he looked at me with a straight face and said, “Trust me Justin; you are nowhere close to being on that list.”

Megan Koester, author of “My Short-Lived Career as a Female Wrestler”, wrote this article to get our attention, get herself noticed as a writer, and make us laugh. The comical tale of this writer’s feral youth unfolds, using visualization, curse words, and funny anecdotes, as a timeline of her continued utter lack of physical prowess. From her “sociopath of a kindergarten teacher” giving tests in skipping (“to my Lou”), which she failed, to her ill-gotten bronze medal in wrestling, Koester consistently mocks herself in hopes of making her audience laugh along with her. This type of writing, labeled as confession articles, experiential writing, immersion reporting, or personal essays, is a growing trend in Journalism.

My first varsity college wrestling match was short but a success. Prior to the match we had to drive five hours to Olivet Michigan to wrestle in the tournament we were competing in. We left after class on Friday around 3:30, so we can get to the hotel and have time to relax. I was super enthusiastic all the way there. It was my first match on varsity in college! I knew I had to get the win to start off my college career.

I love the adrenaline rush and when the ref raised my arm up high when I won a match. I loved being able to do a sport I was great at for once. I was quick, knew a lot of moves, and knew how the wrestling worked. I just always hated the nervous feelings I always got before a meet. My nerves would make my stomach feel upside down and cause me to think twice about wrestling just in case I ever got hurt. But Like I said before this meet was different. Ten minutes after my successful match I was feeling overconfident and didn’t have that nervous feeling I had at the beginning of the meet since I had won a match so quick. I was called to be next for my second match that night and still was feeling way too confident. I never should have thought my match was going to be as easy as my last. Once my strap was on and shook hands with the other wrestler right before the whistle blew I was pulling moves like crazy. The different wrestling moves I used worked many times but the other guy, oh no. He was good. He knew how to defend himself from me and tried to get me mad by always pulling on my head down. That was irritating to me because I chipped one of my front teeth. So in my mind after about 2 rounds with this guy, I told myself I needed to finish him and win like I did the last match. Yet again, I still had that overconfidence in me. I tried to bring him down which almost worked, but he aimed for my ankles and pulled me up. I didn’t want to go down so

I remember the day I walked into the dojo. It feels like it was yesterday, that day my dad signed my sister and I up for karate. I was excited and a bit nervous - you could say I was nervouscited. I had so much fun in the basic class earning stars, learning the student creed, and doing black belt challenges. The first star I earned was my red star for black belt attitude. This is the moment I realized that I wanted to become a black belt.

I possess a diverse set of leadership skills these skills have been tested many times throughout my young adult life. At UT Austin I plan to continue taking leadership roles that better me as an individual and better the people around me alike. My main leadership role has come my junior and senior seasons of wrestling. I took on a leadership role as a junior because our senior class was very small. Now as a senior, I became a captain. My main responsibilities as leader on the team is to set a good example for the underclassmen while also keeping them accountable to their word with their actions. Wrestling is a grueling sport that takes complete focus four months out of the year and to become great that focus must continue throughout the

Have you ever thought “There’s no way I can do this”, but managed to be able to succeed and reach your goal? I am going to tell you the story of the hardships I endured at my first wrestling camp. Last summer, in late July, I attended a wrestling camp called “Camp of Champions” in the high foothills of Sonora. The camp was labeled an intensive camp, and that’s exactly what it was. The camp consisted of four practices a day- each lasting about two and a half hours.

2 years ago I played football for the MOT Cowboys, I had just turned thirteen. Football season had just started and there were many teenagers my size and smaller than me trying out for the team,the tryouts was about a week long, a week later the teams had decided who they wanted and I was picked along with a ton of other talented kids at football. August 4th, the first day of conditioning, I’m thinking that conditioning would be a piece of cake but surely I was mistaken. The first day I had ran like I have never ran before, after the first practice I was thinking and said “ What did I get myself into”. The first week I was skeptical about even wanting to play football, my brother played football to and he jokingly said to me, “ You look like

I’ve been wrestling and boxing since I was eight years old. My dad put me into the sport because my neighborhood was never the safest, so he put me in basically so I knew how to defend myself if it came down to it. Eventually it did come down to where I had to defend myself in a fight when I was in 6thgrade. That day I was glad my dad pushed me into the sport. After the situation I had in the 6th grade I training nonstop and competing throughout the years. I knew eventually I had to get my feet wet and I knew I was going to have to step into the cage one day. My first fight was planned on May 18,2016 I can remember it like it was yesterday. My coach told me “Sylvia it’s about that time for you to take on your first MMA fight”.

My life as a wrestler began in my sophomore year when I walked into my first wrestling meeting. All the guys were staring at me because I was the only girl and they looked at me like I was in the wrong place. Soon after that we began tryouts which consisted mainly of conditioning (running laps, running stairs and carrying around other teammates). Conditioning season got tougher every day and I tried my best to stand out by working harder than everyone else. I began to realize that conditioning was a way of eliminating people who were not tough enough to handle the rigorous practices. As the days went by, many of the guys quit because it was rough. All my effort paid off when I made the team. I hated practice, not because I minded the hard work, but because I did not have a partner, and no one was willing to wrestle me because I was a girl. I was ill prepared for my matches. I remember my first wrestling match like it was yesterday. My match ended in less than twenty seconds. It happened so fast I did not see my opponent shoot for my legs. After that, I was not given the chance to wrestle in many matches.