biggest win of the year!

Since wrestling kicked off, I have not had a lot of free time and have neglected to post lately. While reflecting on how the wrestling season has gone thus far, I realized there is a lot to share. Though the varsity is wrestling well and our squad is currently ranked 2nd in state, I would rather share results from a C team exhibition match that was wrestled last Friday night at our home dual with Auburn HS. One of our 11th grade wresters earned his 1st win by pin Friday night vs AHS. Though this young man has been wrestling for Tahoma since the 8th grade, the sport has not come easy for him. This young man has many learning disabilities that have made aspects of both school and sports tough, yet he has stuck with our wrestling team and his persistence paid off in a big way last Friday night. As I watched our wrestler work his best series and eventual find a way to pin his opponent, I was filled with pride as I watched his team mates gather around the mat to cheer wildly and chant his name. The THS wrestling team knew how special this match was and they cheered and hollered as if it were the state finals! When the match was done and the Tahoma wrestler’s hand was raised and the crowd erupted one more time. The mighty Bear grappler rushed the jr varsity team and coach to slap hands and celebrate the awesome victory. Then, when he saw me off to the side with an extend hand for a shake and a congrats, he rushed forward and pushed my hand aside so he could throw his arms around me for a big bear hug and hollowed in my ear, “I’m all in coach, I’m all in now!” As I returned the hug and let him know how proud I was of him I realized that though I have been fixated on trying to help the varsity win state this year, I needed to bring my focus back to facilitating a program that allows all wrestlers to feel that they are “all in”. Last year the same young man that won the big match Friday night told me he was thinking about quitting because he was not any good and would never win. He went on to explain that he was not sure he was “all in with this wrestling thing”. Fortunately some of the upperclassman talked him into finishing the season and coming back out this year.


Recently I have found myself so caught up in thinking about how to push the varsity wrestles conditioning to the next level while improving our hand fighting and bottom position, that I forgot what the most important part of my job really is. I need to make sure that I am leading a program that allows all my boys to feel confident, successful and most importantly “all in”.