Proud Mom Monday

My son had a great year of wrestling last year. We were most of the way through the season when his coach pointed out that he had won every one of his dual meets.  He earned medals in many of the intra-league tournaments, and he had a stellar weekend at the state championship tournament, finishing fourth after a number of hard-earned wins (including two multiple-overtime matches). He was one of three on his team to qualify for the national championship meet, and while he was eliminated in an early round, they all enjoyed the experience of being there.

My son almost didn’t wrestle this year. A few weeks before the season started we found out that he has a lacrosse-related injury that will require surgery to repair. After the doctor assured us that it wouldn’t get any worse if he waited, he decided to live with the pain for a while longer so he wouldn’t have to miss his last year of wrestling. Then at one of the first meets of the year, he tweaked his knee. We thought that might put an early end to his season, but with ice and physical therapy he was able to keep wrestling. Still, it seemed to take a toll–his opponents always seemed to grab for his “bad” knee and he wouldn’t take his sister’s advice to wear a brace on both knees so they wouldn’t know which one was hurt.  (I thought that was a very clever idea!) He ended the season ranked fifth–good, but a drop from his fourth place finish last year.

As we headed to the state championship tournament, I was hoping for a good weekend, but I’ve seen enough heartache on the mat to know that there are no sure bets in wrestling. 

There were 24 wrestlers in his weight class. On the first day (Friday night), he won his first match but lost his second match, which bumped him down to the “consolation bracket.” Because he lost before the championship rounds, the best he could possibly do was to place third, but to do that he had to win the rest of his matches–six more!–without another loss.  (I’m glad I didn’t do that math until the tournament was over.) He won his third match, ending the first day on a high note.

The second day of the tournament (Saturday) was nerve-wracking. He won his first match solidly. His second-match started off as a nail-biter, but he won by a pin early in the second round. His third match was easier to watch and he won decisively (10-4).  With that win he would place at least eighth in the tournament, but only the top four go to the nationals and I know he wanted one more trip on the wrestling team bus. 

His fourth match went into sudden-death overtime. I screamed and jumped out of my seat when the referee raised my son’s hand to signal his win (4-2). That was his ticket to the championship round where he would compte for third place.

(That’s him in the wild lacrosse shorts)

We couldn’t see the scoreboard from where we were sitting, and the 2-minute rounds seemed to take forever. The first round was scoreless. The second round my son started “down” and earned one point for an escape. The third round . . . was scoreless! So, my son won his third place state championship medal in a 1-0 match–so fitting for the defenseman that he is!

(Head Coach, my son a co-Captain, Assistant Coach, Co-Captain
–I think they were still smiling that big when they fell asleep!)

Several of his other teammates made it to the championship rounds, and two others placed well enough to go on to the nationals. The team as a whole earned sixth place–meeting the goal the coach had set at the beginning of the season.

I am so proud of my son. He worked so hard for his medal. Wrestling eight times in a weekend, with six wins in a row (and five in one day) is quite a feat of physical and mental strength and endurance. His coaches told him that he won third place “the hard way”–the first and second place winners only had to wrestle in five matches over the whole tournament (twice Friday and three times Saturday).

But what makes me really happy is to see my son so proud of himself. The smile on his face after his win was so genuine, so hard-earned, so heart-felt. He’s a pretty quiet boy, and we don’t get to see that exuberance very often!

Did you do anything fun this weekend?