The Basics of Being a Wrestler

            Wrestling is the world's oldest sport, defined as "the sport or activity of grappling with an opponent and trying to throw or hold them down to the ground, typically according to a code of rules."" But wrestling is much more than simply trying to throw an opponent to the ground; it takes dedication, commitment and tenacity. Along with this, there are other aspects of the sport that set it apart from all others. .
             There is no other sport out there like wrestling. You are by yourself out on the mat with an opponent, and it can without a doubt be frightening. If you are at a big wrestling university, such as Penn State or Iowa you can bring in up to 20,000 fans. You will never know what nervous is until you are on a mat by yourself with 40,000 eyes staring directly at you. In other sports you are out on a field or court with your team. If something goes wrong you can blame teammates, but in wrestling who are you going to blame? No one, because it is you who is controlling what happens during the match. .
             Another unique aspect of wrestling, is the fact that an entire team match can come down to you. Its almost similar to basketball if you are given the opportunity to shoot the last second shot of a game to take the lead and win it all for the team. Except in wrestling you are not guaranteed to get a shot off like you are in basketball. It is so easy to defend a shot in wrestling, and if you are not able to get close enough to your opponent to touch his legs there is no way you are going to win that match for yourself or the team. If the team score is tied going into your match it is up to you to win it for the team. I have actually had this happen to me before, but thank god that my opponent was not very good. I remember being so nervous I was going to lose in front of the home crowd, and lose the match for the team. I ended up winning thank the lord. That was my best wrestling experience especially when our crowd and bench went insane.