Wrestling: Training for the Rest of Your Life

Sweat sweeps out, slowly gliding down and finally dripping off his face. His heart races as he huffs and puffs. He stutter steps, pulls out, fakes again, and quickly turns from right to left outwitting his opponent and grabbing onto his leg. He doesn’t even think about it anymore. His movements steadily have become reflexes and his reflexes are second nature.

The time is quickly winding down and his team needs the victory to win the dual meet. He holds on to his opponent's legs, tightly gripping as the time slips aways. There is a moment of silence from his teammates, interrupted by loud cheers from the opposing team. The match is over. His head droops off his body, as if all his convictions rest upon his shoulders, too heavy to bear the lost.

He runs off the mat upset and distraught. The streets of his mind are traffic jammed with thousands of thoughts trying to get to a conclusion on what went wrong. There is little compassion given to the warrior, the wrestler. He will be expected to pick up and piece himself back together, return to practice and continue to wrestle

Wrestlers practice countless hours on and off the mat for regulation matches no longer than six minutes. Six minutes doesn’t seem like enough time to crush a dream, but it is. Wrestlers dreams are faced with this challenge every time they step on a mat. Their dreams of success in wrestling are put to the test every match. No one else can wrestle for them but themselves. Wrestling is a good sport because it has a different level of team purity and individual intensity that separates it from other sports.

Wrestling is a worldwide sport and literally has thousands of styles or types. In recent years wrestling has evolved to three main types. The main styles are...

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