WRESTLING

Wrestling is a sport and sports are great, but what sets wrestling apart from other athletic activities. Is it cutting weight, hard practices, cauliflower ear, fear. Could be any of the above. Wrestling is ancient when it comes to athletic competition. Why? Where did it come from? Many sports have an inventor, a mind behind the idea to create a new competition. Walter Camp is the founder of football. James Naismith invented basketball. Abner Doubleday invented baseball. William Webb Ellis created rugby. The Chinese invented soccer during the Han Dynasty about 2300 years ago. Wrestling though, has proof in 15,300 year old cave paintings in Lascaux, France that depict wrestlers, which tells us wrestling was happening even before then. The first recorded wrestling match was between God and Jacob in Genesis 22:22-35 where Jacob was alone and wrestled with God all night. God changed his name from Jacob to Israel saying “because you have struggled with God and with humans and have over come.” Neither Jacob nor God declared victory in the match, but Jacob walked away with a limp, and his life, naming the place Peniel saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” Genesis 22:30.

So wrestling was created. Jacob wouldn’t let the man he was wrestling escape until he blessed him and so God did by changing his name.

Wrestling as a sport in youth through high school has evolved substantially since the early days, but in its rawest form remains the same. It’s a struggle. A struggle a wrestler must make on his own by himself. The discipline it takes just to walk on to the mat alone is a struggle.

Wrestling exposes an individual character. How well you can deal with adversity and still maintain composure whether it’s a modest celebration after a victory or dealing with a loss accepting your defeat humbly and shaking your opponents hand congratulating them on the victory.

It is my opinion that wrestling grows young men into strong adaptable leaders simply; because they most likely have dealt with heartbreaking loss and a myriad of emotions and had to overcome them. A wrestler knows that it takes hard work and a relentless will to finish a tough match and lose and still feel like a winner because you didn’t give up. In the practice room the wrestlers grind and grind trying to perfect their skills to overcome their next opponent. As a parent of wrestlers witnessing them struggle is hard, but the successes and victories far outweigh any of the struggles. Seeing them struggle with themselves and overcoming the adversities in themselves is very rewarding as a parent.

“Once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy.” Dan Gable.

“Some wrestlers need wrestling, sometimes wrestling needs wrestlers.” Nick Henning Head Coach FMCC Warriors

In an interview with Christian Kuball after his last season with the FMCC Warriors I asked him about wrestling and to be honest. He said “The practices are tough, and the whole time I’m in there I’m like what am I doing this for. Then I go out on the mat and compete and get my hand raised and all the hard work was worth it. When I lose a match I just can’t wait to get back into the practice room and get better. Its hard but in the end it’s worth all the hard work you put in.”

This is an excerpt I found online for 10 reasons why kids should wrestle.

Wrestling Develops Athletic Skills.

Wrestling is one of those sports that requires a lot of body control.

Wrestling builds footwork and speed. Wrestling improves strength.

Wrestling Develops Personal Responsibility.

Whether you win or lose, it’s entirely up to you. You are responsible for your training. You are responsible for making weight. It is a team sport, but you score individual points. You have to be ready to be ready to perform every single match.

Wrestling Develops Mental Toughness.

The training is intense to say the least.

- 6 minutes can seem like forever You also have to be mentally tough and prepared to square up one on one with your opponent.

You have to be mentally strong to be ready to perform under pressure on a regular basis.

You have to be mentally prepared to push your body beyond what it wants to do.

You have to be mentally tough to embrace the grind.

Wrestling Teaches About Nutrition And Weight Maintenance.

You have to fuel your body with the right food.

You have to learn how to say no to the cake and say yes to fresh fruits and vegetables.

You have to lean to say no to the soda and chips and say yes to water and chicken breasts.

The better you eat, the more energy that you will have, and the better that you will perform.

Wrestling Brings kids together and builds a strong camaraderie.

Adversity brings people together, and due to the challenges that a wrestler faces, the bonds between wrestlers become very strong Wrestlers give it their very all to become the best they can be. There is a great feeling of empathy that is developed for the other athletes, and when they win big matches, you are happy for them. When they lose big matches, you can feel the sting of their loss too.

Wrestling develops discipline.

To be successful in wrestling, you have to develop discipline.

You can’t just show up to practice whenever you want to, or else you will not be properly prepared to compete You can’t just compete on the days that you feel like it, and you can’t just watch your diet occasionally.

You have to develop and stick to a routine. You have to do the work everyday. You have to embrace the grind.

Wrestling Brings Different Cultures And Countries Together.

Wrestling is a sport that helps bring people together.

We may all be different in some way, but even though the competition is fierce, most wrestlers are able to look past where an individual is from There is a commonality gain through the grind.

Wrestling teaches an individual how to focus on something and master it.

It takes a lot of time and repetition to get a move down just right so that it can be executed during competition.

The wrestler that can discipline themselves to focus on one technique and master it, will give themselves a great opportunity to win.

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”-Bruce Lee

Wrestling provides opportunities to further education.

Wrestling can provide an opportunity to earn a scholarship to wrestle in college and further one’s education.

If young wrestlers are committed to the sport and do their homework about wrestling programs, hopefully, they will be able to find a school that they can wrestle at and further their education as well.

Wrestling is fun!!

Last but not least, wrestling is fun!

Despite all the challenges that are a part of the sport, it is so much fun and so rewarding to go compete and win.

Having your hand raised at the end of a match is a great feeling. It is a very satisfying feeling to know that you are able to work hard, improve your skills, face challenges, and overcome them.

You know that no matter what life throws at you, that you will be able to prepare for it, and come out okay on the other side.

GET YOUR KIDS INTO WRESTLING YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT

The Fulda/MCC Warrior wrestling program is headed for greatness in the next few years with this young crop of wrestlers coming through the ranks. We need more upperclassmen, and also youth wrestlers to reach our goals. Reach out to anyone and ask how you can get you child or student involved in the program. We have a family of parents and wrestlers willing to help out where we can to make it easier to get to practices and competition if schedules make it difficult.