Whoops. Almost forgot to post today. Busy day. Work, with Advent, is crazy. Getting all of the end-of-the-year items in order along with the regular crazienss of the season. Exhausting – yet exciting in the same breath.
Today was the boy’s first wrestling meet. I’m a bit sad about Dante and his last year of high-school wrestling. But, most of all, it makes me happy that they get a year on the same team together. I want it to go slow. Very, very slow. They dueled against a non-conference team. Carlito, brand new freshman, was set to wrestle in the varsity line up. I wasn’t too sure about that… if he was ready, if a defeat would crush him.
Their team did well. Dante ended up not even wrestling his opponent. When he walked out on the mat, the other guy forfeited (on purpose) and moved up a weight class to better the team chances of winning. It was a blog. We were losing by the last match. The only way to make up for it was a pin. Guess who was up last? Carlito. No pressure, right? He was pumped when he walked out, ready to give it what he could (even though he’s not 100% sure on the rules, and as his fatigue wears on his mental sharpness drops significantly – hereditary from his mother, surely). But he soldiered through. Caught a handful of fouls. He was leading in points, but one more violation and he would automatically lose the match. I could see his head swimming, but his determination didn’t falter.
I was about to pee my pants.
He got him in the last seconds of the match. Pinned him. He was proud, we were all proud. The team was proud. They had lost so many members and things had looked bleak, but they all stepped up to the plate with heart; it was infectious. It was a nice moment. One that you can kind of ride the sails on for a while. They don’t happen often (if they did, we’d take them for granted). But when they do, they are exquisite.
That is fantastic! I’m so happy for him!
Thank you, Christine!!!