Oh boy, I've had this post started in my drafts for two months now (I am finally writing it up in March). So many deep thoughts to consider and get up with this post.
When the big kids were pretty little, I think Wyatt was 4 or 5 years old and Lorien was 6 or 7, Will started coaching wrestling at the local club and high school. He promptly put both of the big kids into wrestling for their sport. Both enjoyed practices a lot! Wrestling practice is basically gymnastics with summersaults and bear crawls across the mat. Then the first tournament rolled around, Lorien got tossed around by a couple of boys her age and immediately said she didn't want to participate ever again. Ever. Wyatt got a little roughed up and won a couple of matches. He stuck with it.
Both kids continued to go to practice but only Wyatt participated in weekend tournaments. Clare would frequently go along to practice and tournaments. Her rewards were: losing her stuffed dog once, contracting impetigo once, and contracting molluscum contagiosum once (those are skin infections folks. Google it for a good time--no don't!). Additionally, Clare shared molluscum contagiosum with Adell, who shared it with Colter. We had molluscum contagiosum for SIX years. It was a treat. I digress.
ANYWAY, Wyatt wrestled just about every season we lived in Redwood City and Menlo Park. When we moved across the Bay we couldn't find a good club close to home. We went down south a few times but Wyatt wasn't really into wrestling.
My memories of him wrestling are heartbreaking. I would watch him get red-faced and frustrated. I would watch him get his red face mashed into the mat. I would watch him try not to cry or scream about the match. It was hard for me to watch. Sometimes he would win...I would have no idea how or what went on. I just knew, occasionally, my baby would look up from having his face smashed and into my eyes with a look that clearly said: "Why are you letting this happen to me?" I would try to cheer him on and be generally supportive but I sure didn't get it.
October 2009
December 2009
My lack of understanding did not stop Wyatt from wrestling, it just tugged at my heartstrings. At some point, Will jumped back into his wrestling career. Will and his brothers wrestled all their lives. Starting at 5 or 6 years old, up through their school years and some into college. When Will and I first got married, he went back to wrestling at MIT. He wrestled for a few weeks. One day at practice he got thrown in a move and his big toe went between two mats that weren't fully taped together. He ended up breaking his big toe--ending his wrestling season and career at that point. He was so disappointed!
When Will decided to go back to wrestling at the club level, I was pregnant with Adell. The next year Adell was a few months old and Will wrestled again, this time trying to get to the Veterans National level. Will was determined to get some of his wrestling years back. He was amazing and made it all the way to the finals in Utah in 2010. He ended up taking second and we were all so proud. I wrote all about it here.
May 2010
And so we continued, season after season, being a wrestling family. Our Saturdays were promised to sweaty gymnasiums and uncomfortable bleachers. It was fun?
May 2011
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Like I said before, once we moved out to Danville we couldn't find a good wrestling club close to home. I think Wyatt was more than burned out at that point. Will also had just added a two hour commute to his life and didn't have time to wrestle himself. Will did take on coaching soccer for Wyatt. They figured it out--wrestling just wasn't part of the equation for a few years.
Then came Lorien's sophomore year in high school. She decided (on her own) to wrestle. We were stunned, excited and proud! Will returned to wrestling as a high school coach. He loved it. Lorien...well...Lorien tried to finish. It was hard, she was the only girl and hadn't wrestled in a decade or so. She was awesome. Some of her wrestling season is documented here and here.
Lorien 2016
Lorien 2017
It was a hard wrestling season but Lorien did it! She did not wrestle again. I tried to convince her to give it a try one more season, just to have it for her college applications. Alas, she was only interested in wrestling once. I can't blame her, wrestling looks too hard!
Now we get to the end of 2018. Wyatt is a freshman and had a wrestling unit in PE. The wrestling coaches came to every PE class and made their pitch. For Wyatt, their pitch included complimenting his "natural" abilities and a strong sell for coming out for the team. Up to this point, Wyatt had declined every invitation from Will to wrestle in high school. The team coaches had the key. Wyatt decided to go out for the team.
It's been an interesting season so far. Wyatt was kicking major butt as the season started. He won a lot of matches (most by pin) and was on top of the world.
They moved Wyatt up to wrestle on the varsity squad for a couple of duels. He did his best but was up against kids who had a little more experience than he did. Wyatt also has a knack for getting caught up in his head and worries before he even gets on the mat. He did just fine in every match but it was nerve wracking.
After the varsity duels he wrestled in a couple of varsity tournaments. These were much harder and Wyatt struggled but learned somethings. The picture below was taken after a particularly demoralizing loss for Wyatt. Thankfully, Lorien knows just what to say to cheer Wyatt up.
Wyatt also wrestled in JV and Freshman tournaments. He would usually loose his first match and then have to wrestle his way back through the bracket (a much longer day) and end up wrestling for 3rd or 4th against the kid he had lost to at the start of the day. Wyatt would have learned some lessons and would end up beating the kid and taking 3rd place with a medal. It was a roller coaster every time.
And then there was the story of winning the Ax. A few years ago the local fire department decided to sponsor a duel between all of the high schools in the district and award the winner the Ax. It is a varsity duel and pretty difficult. Wyatt was called up to wrestle in the 115 pound spot. He was nervous. He won his match giving SRV some much needed points. It came down to the last two matches. We needed to win them both but we lost the first. Then we needed to win the second and absolutely not loose by a pin. The wrestler for SRV, Blake, kicked serious butt. He won the match and avoided a pin. It was so exciting! We won the Ax!
The rest of the season has marched on. Wyatt has mostly wrestled JV tournaments and some Varsity. I think he has done enough to earn his Varsity letter, which is really cool. He got super motivated at the start of the season when his coaches were talking about his potential to be on varsity. Wyatt was excited about the idea of getting a letterman jacket and having four varsity letters if he made varsity his freshman year.
January has been almost exclusively devoted to wrestling around here. We've had so much of it, Will has decided to get back in the saddle (again-again) and compete this club season. He loves this stuff. Wyatt has a few more weeks left. He has worked so hard and is tired. We are proud of him.
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