I hate winter. I hate the cold, the ice, the wind, pretty much everything. The one thing that gets me though the winter blues involves one mat, 3 periods, and 6 minutes: Wrestling Season. During high school, being a wrestling manager for 3 years was the thing that really helped make school a little less horrible. It's also the only thing I actually miss from high school. Home wrestling meets are the rare occasions that I make an appearance back in my hometown. It may have been just a sport for some people and it helped that my high school was well known for having a strong wrestling program, but for me it really changed me and I didn't even step onto the mat...except to mop or wipe up blood of course.
My athletic ability is non-existent, so doing sports in high was not really a smart option. I did want to get involve and really be able to show my school spirit outside of the Talented and Gifted classroom. So, my sophomore year I decided to sign up to be a wrestling manager, and I haven't been the same since. I went from being a shy, quiet, goody-two-shoes, stick in the mud, to a cursing, confident, sassy girl who actually could flirt/talk to boys. My first ever boyfriend was a wrestler, and all the boys I have dated since then have wrestled at some point in their life. It's not the short stature of cauliflower ear that attracts me, it the work ethic and personal strength that I know is instilled in wrestlers. Wrestling really helped me come out of my shell and taught me how to stick up for myself. How did this happen? Well, if you ever spent everyday for five months with a group of very strong-willed and stubborn girls, you would know. It wasn't all kittens and butterflies. After about month 2 you're all cycling together, which means you all get really bitchy at each other during the same week for the next two months. Some girls don't carry their weight, while others think they are the head manager, and every body is gossiping about everyone else behind their back. You want to slap the other girls at least once during the season, and wonder why you put up with them some days. But, for the most days, you're too busy laughing together to remember how much you hate each other. They are your sisters, and you soon realize that it's ok because sisters fight sometimes. You have sleep overs the night before tournaments, and spend hours discussing what you're going to wear for the home meet on Thursday. You tell those girls things you wouldn't tell anyone else in the school, and you all have a relationship you don't have with other people.
You also become extremely close to the wrestlers themselves. While they have their moments of "I'm freaking starving myself and just lost so I'm going to be a dick to you just because you're the closest target", they are really appreciative of what you do. They wouldn't want to clean up their own blood, spend an extra half hour after practice wiping mats, or skip class during the day to change laundry. They rely on you to make sure they have all their stuff for meets, and start appreciating how much you care for them. And honestly, you wouldn't put up with their attitudes if you didn't care about them. They flirt and tease more than any boys you ever met, and they can seriously piss you off. But you also know how to piss them off. Our coach even told me to piss off my neighbor boy as much as possible before his matches because it got him all fired off and made him wrestle better. They become your brothers rather quickly, and you laugh with them almost as much as you laugh with the other managers. You are more than willing to do their homework once or twice right before class the morning after a meet when you know the bus didn't get back until after 11 and there was 6am practice that morning. While all your classmates are dumbfounded as to why they starve themselves all season or only see the sport as "guys doing weird gay sex positions in tight clothes", you know they are some of the strongest people you have every met physically and mentally. You become protective of them and vice versa. They will let you throw a face shot after they gave you a black eye during an intense game of dodge ball and be willing to give a black eye to any guy who hurt you. You're unbelievably ecstatic when they beat that kid ranked higher than them in over time, and truly understand their anguish and humility when they get pinned because of some stupid mistake. You sacrifice your after school snacks to them when you know they haven't eaten all day, and really try to put their needs first. Partly because they are your brothers, and partly because you want to keep them in as good as a mood as possible. It's also hard to complain about the boys when you are oodling over their fine toned, sweaty bodies in singlets (holy yummy).
I keep throwing around the term family, and I don't mean it lightly. The coaches, the wrestlers, the other managers all become your family. You laugh with them, you tease them and they tease you, you fight with them, and you sometimes cry with them. I have seen some crazy wrestling moms, and I will admit I am just as loud when I am watching a Ballard wrestling meet. It was unanimously decided that I was not allowed to video tape matches because I was yelling too loud, and moved the camera around too much when I was screaming "2!" or "He's Pinned!". I stuck to being water girl and score-keeper, which was probably a good thing because I learned I needed to speak up and be firm when the scoreboard was wrong and our wrestler was getting screwed out of points. My favorite wrestling memory was during my senior year. Our team was at the Regional Dual meet, which is the meet that determines whether your team will go on to state. It came down to the last match, and we were trailing by 2 points. Our guy was ranked 5th in the state and the opposing team's guy was ranked 4th. During the last period he was losing 1-0, and when the clock came down to 10 seconds left, the tears started flowing because we knew we would lose and the team's season was over. However, in the last 2 seconds our guy got his take down and we had become state qualifiers. The tears really began flowing then, along with an insane amount of cheering yelling, and hugging. I had never been more proud of my brothers and that feeling will last with me forever. The late night/early morning practices, weekends given up for tournaments, and dropping grades because you were too busy/tired to actually care about school work, was all worth it in that one moment.
I try to go back as much as I can to cheer on my hometown, but it definitely isn't the same anymore. It makes me feel so old when I see the kids who I knew as freshmen and sophomores getting their asses handed to them, now kicking butt and qualifying for state. I try to go to as many Iowa State home wrestling meets as I can, but it isn't the same cheering on boys you don't know anything about compared to cheering on your hometown boys. The family atmosphere is also gone. You don't recognize the heavy-weight's grandpa's cheers in the crowd and the coach's daughter doesn't insist on sitting in your lap while you take stats during the entire dual. Even between the drama and catfights that came with the season, I would not have changed being a wrestling manager for anything. They were my family and I have a relationship and bond with that team that I won't get with anybody else. They may have pushed my buttons to the max at times, but I still wouldn't want them to get beat by the other team. Wrestling was where I found myself, and is a sport I hold near and dear to my HEART. (Only those associated with Ballard wrestling will get the HEART thing). I was finally able to be a part of a team, and made more memories than I ever imagined I would have as a naïve sophomore. As the season winds down, I say good luck to all the Bomber wrestlers competing at State this week, and keep the Ballard Legacy alive for yourselves and for all those cheering you on off the mat.
My athletic ability is non-existent, so doing sports in high was not really a smart option. I did want to get involve and really be able to show my school spirit outside of the Talented and Gifted classroom. So, my sophomore year I decided to sign up to be a wrestling manager, and I haven't been the same since. I went from being a shy, quiet, goody-two-shoes, stick in the mud, to a cursing, confident, sassy girl who actually could flirt/talk to boys. My first ever boyfriend was a wrestler, and all the boys I have dated since then have wrestled at some point in their life. It's not the short stature of cauliflower ear that attracts me, it the work ethic and personal strength that I know is instilled in wrestlers. Wrestling really helped me come out of my shell and taught me how to stick up for myself. How did this happen? Well, if you ever spent everyday for five months with a group of very strong-willed and stubborn girls, you would know. It wasn't all kittens and butterflies. After about month 2 you're all cycling together, which means you all get really bitchy at each other during the same week for the next two months. Some girls don't carry their weight, while others think they are the head manager, and every body is gossiping about everyone else behind their back. You want to slap the other girls at least once during the season, and wonder why you put up with them some days. But, for the most days, you're too busy laughing together to remember how much you hate each other. They are your sisters, and you soon realize that it's ok because sisters fight sometimes. You have sleep overs the night before tournaments, and spend hours discussing what you're going to wear for the home meet on Thursday. You tell those girls things you wouldn't tell anyone else in the school, and you all have a relationship you don't have with other people.
You also become extremely close to the wrestlers themselves. While they have their moments of "I'm freaking starving myself and just lost so I'm going to be a dick to you just because you're the closest target", they are really appreciative of what you do. They wouldn't want to clean up their own blood, spend an extra half hour after practice wiping mats, or skip class during the day to change laundry. They rely on you to make sure they have all their stuff for meets, and start appreciating how much you care for them. And honestly, you wouldn't put up with their attitudes if you didn't care about them. They flirt and tease more than any boys you ever met, and they can seriously piss you off. But you also know how to piss them off. Our coach even told me to piss off my neighbor boy as much as possible before his matches because it got him all fired off and made him wrestle better. They become your brothers rather quickly, and you laugh with them almost as much as you laugh with the other managers. You are more than willing to do their homework once or twice right before class the morning after a meet when you know the bus didn't get back until after 11 and there was 6am practice that morning. While all your classmates are dumbfounded as to why they starve themselves all season or only see the sport as "guys doing weird gay sex positions in tight clothes", you know they are some of the strongest people you have every met physically and mentally. You become protective of them and vice versa. They will let you throw a face shot after they gave you a black eye during an intense game of dodge ball and be willing to give a black eye to any guy who hurt you. You're unbelievably ecstatic when they beat that kid ranked higher than them in over time, and truly understand their anguish and humility when they get pinned because of some stupid mistake. You sacrifice your after school snacks to them when you know they haven't eaten all day, and really try to put their needs first. Partly because they are your brothers, and partly because you want to keep them in as good as a mood as possible. It's also hard to complain about the boys when you are oodling over their fine toned, sweaty bodies in singlets (holy yummy).
I keep throwing around the term family, and I don't mean it lightly. The coaches, the wrestlers, the other managers all become your family. You laugh with them, you tease them and they tease you, you fight with them, and you sometimes cry with them. I have seen some crazy wrestling moms, and I will admit I am just as loud when I am watching a Ballard wrestling meet. It was unanimously decided that I was not allowed to video tape matches because I was yelling too loud, and moved the camera around too much when I was screaming "2!" or "He's Pinned!". I stuck to being water girl and score-keeper, which was probably a good thing because I learned I needed to speak up and be firm when the scoreboard was wrong and our wrestler was getting screwed out of points. My favorite wrestling memory was during my senior year. Our team was at the Regional Dual meet, which is the meet that determines whether your team will go on to state. It came down to the last match, and we were trailing by 2 points. Our guy was ranked 5th in the state and the opposing team's guy was ranked 4th. During the last period he was losing 1-0, and when the clock came down to 10 seconds left, the tears started flowing because we knew we would lose and the team's season was over. However, in the last 2 seconds our guy got his take down and we had become state qualifiers. The tears really began flowing then, along with an insane amount of cheering yelling, and hugging. I had never been more proud of my brothers and that feeling will last with me forever. The late night/early morning practices, weekends given up for tournaments, and dropping grades because you were too busy/tired to actually care about school work, was all worth it in that one moment.
I try to go back as much as I can to cheer on my hometown, but it definitely isn't the same anymore. It makes me feel so old when I see the kids who I knew as freshmen and sophomores getting their asses handed to them, now kicking butt and qualifying for state. I try to go to as many Iowa State home wrestling meets as I can, but it isn't the same cheering on boys you don't know anything about compared to cheering on your hometown boys. The family atmosphere is also gone. You don't recognize the heavy-weight's grandpa's cheers in the crowd and the coach's daughter doesn't insist on sitting in your lap while you take stats during the entire dual. Even between the drama and catfights that came with the season, I would not have changed being a wrestling manager for anything. They were my family and I have a relationship and bond with that team that I won't get with anybody else. They may have pushed my buttons to the max at times, but I still wouldn't want them to get beat by the other team. Wrestling was where I found myself, and is a sport I hold near and dear to my HEART. (Only those associated with Ballard wrestling will get the HEART thing). I was finally able to be a part of a team, and made more memories than I ever imagined I would have as a naïve sophomore. As the season winds down, I say good luck to all the Bomber wrestlers competing at State this week, and keep the Ballard Legacy alive for yourselves and for all those cheering you on off the mat.