My Favourite Wrestling Match
Simi Here,
I have wrestled a lot of matches. Specifically in high school, it seemed like there was a tournament going on just about every weekend. And although some of these times blend together, there are some that stand out specifically to me.
One of my favourite matches took place in 2016 at the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club Fall Dual`s. The tournament was at Cornell University in New York and was one of the very first times I’d been far from home for a tournament. Luckily, instead of that being a source of stress for me, I actually had a great sense of ease based on another fact. The tournament was set up as a dual meet. This meant that in order to win, our entire team would need to do well, and seeing as we were missing quite a few weights, it wasn’t exactly likely that we would take home first place.
To me, that meant I could wrestle without worries. I didn’t have a reason to fixate only on outcomes and cloud my mind with worries about my performance. I could have fun! And for me, that meant I could wrestle with my heart!
“I could have fun! And for me, that meant I could wrestle with heart!”
I was excited for my first match and listened to music to get my blood pumping. My opponent was a tough looking American but I was unfazed. I went into the match ready to show her what I was made of. I could feel the support of my teammates and coaches and it made everything that I was doing all the more fun.
At that time, and many times in my wrestling career, I was often too hesitant to shoot. But during that match, I went for what I saw without thinking too much and it resulted in me scoring on someone I’m not sure I thought I would have. The match was by no means perfect. I made mistakes and I didn’t win despite the actual score, but I walked away from it feeling awesome.
Wrestling hard in a borrowed singlet
I listened to my coaches and I wrestled without fears or worries and it was fun. Most importantly, I was proud of myself and confident. That confidence shined throughout the rest of the day leading to a lot of wins and a lot of smiles.