State Wrestling 2013
Making it to the state tournament isn’t for the average wrestler. Every athlete at the state tournament has worked his tail off to get there. When the state tournament finally comes Des Moines is filled with some of the best and toughest athletes in the world. If you can’t decide whether you want to work for the opportunity it will pass you by.
My sophomore year I placed 8th at the weight class 220 at the state-wrestling tournament. To get to state I had to place in the top two at sectionals and districts. That may sound easy but it is easier said than done. I was only weighing around 205 and most of the people I wrestled weighed the full 220 and were much bigger than I was. I had a tough sectional and district. I wrestled mostly seniors and a few juniors but I wrestled no one my age or younger. At state it was even more lopsided. I wrestled the future champion of my bracket the very first round. Then I came back and won two matches. The match I had to win to place was against someone that was also a sophomore. Finally someone my own age! But he was very big! He had to cut weight to wrestle 220. Right away I had two early takedowns. Then I had another one in the third period to win 6-5. I then went on to lose my next two matches and ended up placing 8th.