152 vs.

181
Ever since I was seven, my favorite sport is wrestling. I have had many matches with many
losses along with many victories. But I have had a match you wont believe.
It was the last meet of my seventh grade season. The whole team was pumped up for the
meet. The countless hours you can put into something you enjoy doing are unreal. Each wrestler
got about 2-4 matches per meet. All according to your weight. Sometimes the matchmakers mess
up though trying to find matches for everyone. On the bus, the team was looking at the sheets of
the match lineups. I saw I only had 2 matches, opposed to my normal 3 matches.
It was my last match of the meet. I was up against a kid named Andrew Johnson from
Clarion Goldfield. At this time I was wrestling in the 150-155 weight class. But this kid, this kid
weighed in at 181. We both got out onto the mat, waited for the official, and shook hands. We
stayed in our stance and watched each other for a few moments, like normal. It was a shorter
amount of time than regular before this kid shot in on me. I was caught off guard and he ended up
getting the takedown points. As he tried to grab my wrist, he was too far up my back. I grabbed his
arm and threw him off of me. Which ended up with me getting the two reversal points. The match
tied 2-2 at the end of the first period.
The official flipped the coin. Red. I got to make the call. I called bottom. We got in position
and the official blew his whistle. Right as a heard the high pitched tone, screeching through my
headgear, I grabbed his hand that was around my waist and stood up. 2 more points for me. Im
ahead 4-2. My opponent and I were both back in our stances. It was only about a second before a
shot in on his legs, and got the takedown. 2 points for me. The score was 6-2, until he was smart
and reversed my double-armbar for a point for him. The score was now 6-3, but I was still ahead
with 45 seconds left in the period. We both fought in a tie-up for a chance to shoot for a while. My
opponent and I got apart a few times until the time ran out. End of the second period with a score
of 6-3.

It was the third period. The official tossed his red and green coin again. This time, he won.
My opponent chose to defer his choice. So again, I choose the bottom. The official blew his whistle
again. This time I did a sit-out. After I sat out, I stood up while leaning into him. I broke his grip on
me and got an escape point. The score was now 7-3. Right as I escaped, it wasnt even a second
before I shot and got a takedown with a double-leg. 2 more points for me. The score was now 9-3. I
just decided to try the simplest pin. So I then put in a half-nelson, and surprisingly, he just took it
until he was on his back. Andrew kept squirming, but that, in the end, just gave me 5 back points.
The score was now 14-3. He eventually moved around so much, it gave me a good spot to put all of
weight on him. The official blew his whistle and the match was over. We stood up, shook hands,
and the official raised my arm. I ended my school season with a record of 8-6. My tournament
record was 9-5.
Going into that match I had never thought anything like that was possible. I gleamed with
pride, but also felt a hint of sadness. Right then and there I knew I wouldn't be back on a mat for
another year.