Sophomore Saga

When my sophomore wrestling season began I weighed 110 lbs. I wanted to wrestle 98 lbs. again. Why? I'm not sure exactly. I suppose because in the sport of wrestling there is a belief that if one wrestles in a weight class that is lower than his actual weight he will have a competitive advantage. I have no idea if any studies show that to be true. I also knew that the senior ass kicker Kevin Wedo would be wrestling at 105 lbs and that another senior would be wrestling at 112 lbs. If I wanted to wrestle on the varsity team it would have to be at 98 lbs. Plus, I was naive and didn't realize how difficult cutting weight would be. So, at the beginning of the season I let my intentions of wrestling 98 lbs. be known.

I waited until a couple of weeks before our first meet before I really started to try to lose any weight. Then I simply stopped eating all together almost entirely. I only drank water after practice and never during the day. I quickly became weak, hungry, and dehydrated. I was like a rag doll in practice. I was getting thrown around by guys that I should have been throwing around. When my coach handed me my varsity uniform I thought, "Why are you giving this uniform to me? I'll never make weight." But, I did.

When I made weight the first time, my mother took me to a local restaurant called The Grill for breakfast. I ordered two eggs, sausage, and toast. I also ordered two bakery rolls and two large orange juices. The waitress didn't bat an eye. I guess she was used to wrestlers coming in after weigh-ins. I'm not sure what my mother thought. Sometimes wrestlers, including me, ordered milk shakes and malts for breakfast after weigh-in. The night before competitions I would lie in bed thinking of what I would order for breakfast the next day.

Cutting weight was hell but once I made weight I seemed to do okay. I won the first tournament we wrestled in. I think it was the first tournament I had ever won in the sport of wrestling. I got the first place medal and the bracket sheet. I was thrilled.

I won another tournament soon after that at South Winneshiek High School. In the finals I beat a guy 2-1 that had beaten me badly in my pee wee tournament days. I even had him on his back for a while. I should have scored back points. I had him on his back in an arm bar and decided to get fancy and figure four the head. But, the referee decided that I was actually scissoring the head which is illegal. I could have scored three back points if I hadn't decided to get fancy. It's exciting beating an opponent that has beaten you badly or pinned you in the past. My skills had come a long way since 5th grade.

I wrestled in the Starmont Tournament before Christmas. I was about a pound and a half over my weight that morning. So, I put on some sweats and my coach had me start running until we all got on the bus. I chewed gum and spit in a cup on the way to Starmont. I was still over the limit when I weighed myself at Starmont. I jumped rope for a while. Then I think my coaches rolled me up in a mat. I lay there sweating and exhausted. Did I cry? Probably. The assistant coach came by and asked me if I thought I could go to the bathroom. I thought, "Are you crazy? Don't you think I would have done that already if I could?" I simply but emphatically said, "No!" When I stepped on the scale again my weight was okay. I had made it. My coach said matter-of-factly, "Congratulations." Another wrestler was sitting in the locker room saying he hadn't made weight. I thought, "What do you mean you didn't make weight? That's inexcusable. I will always make weight or die trying." I was a fool.

I think I won the first match fairly easily though I felt a bit tired from cutting weight and running that morning. In the second round I wrestled the guy that I had put the scissor on at the South Winneshiek Tournament. In the first period we ended up in a whizzer situation down on the mat.

I heard my assistant coach say something like, "He should put a half in." It was like he was just saying it matter-of-factly to the head coach and not really yelling it at me.

I thought, "That's a good idea." I threw a half nelson in and took my opponent to his back and almost pinned him. I scored two points for the takedown and three back points. I ended up winning the match 10-0 against a guy who had probably pinned me back in middle school or junior high. I was thrilled. I wrestled a senior in the finals who had beaten me the year before by a score of 8-2, I believe. This time he beat me 3-2 or 4-2. I had gotten the first takedown. I was confident that I could beat him but couldn't quite do it. Still, I had improved from my freshman year.

The tournaments were an interesting time back then. The finals were usually wrestled on one mat with no other matches going on. So, each final match had the spotlight. Before the final matches the wrestlers would line up on opposite sides of the mat. The wrestlers in each weight class would be introduced and then run to the middle of the mat to shake hands.

I remember standing on the top of the awards stand. A cheerleader would hand me the first place medal and the bracket sheet. And, she would give me a kiss on the cheek. Does the winning wrestler still get a kiss on the cheek from a cheerleader these days? I really enjoyed getting the bracket sheet. Some wrestlers could have cared less about a piece of cardboard. But, I liked seeing my name in first place and the record in ink of who I had beaten that day right there on the bracket sheet.

I think it was at one of these tournaments that a cheerleader from another school got caught in my jump rope. Then her fellow cheerleaders were teasing her and trying to flirt with me. I thought, "Hey, I am here to wrestle not flirt with girls. Leave me alone." What was I thinking? Wrestling is more important than girls?

I had a girlfriend during that sophomore wrestling season. I had met her in November. She was from a different school. She saw me wrestle when our team wrestled her high school's team in a dual meet. I didn't see her much during the season. I was always weak from cutting weight and always going to bed early on Friday nights. Tournaments on Saturdays ran late sometimes. Some of the guys on the team knew I had a girlfriend. I told a little lie (big lie) and claimed we'd had sex in the back seat of my car. One senior dubbed me "virgin killer." Another guy on the team named Brad found out that she was a red head.

He said, "You know what they say about red heads. Red head red head, fire in the wood shed!" I guess that's a metaphor of some kind.

I also became involved with the assistant coach's daughter. She rode on the wrestling bus with the team and cheerleaders once. I ended up holding hands with her and we became kind of close. So, I was wrestling well, cheating on my red headed girlfriend, and masquerading as a virgin killer. Forgive me, Jody and Michelle.

After Christmas I had about 12 lbs. to lose. I had eaten well over Christmas break. I was able to lose it fairly easily. I wrestled in the Elkader Tournament and placed 1st. I was on a roll. I was confident that I would win in the finals and I did. Cheerleaders were cheering for my opponent when our match was announced. I thought, "You can stop your cheering because there is no way your guy is going to beat me."

The conference tournament in January was disappointing. I was seeded second I think because Bill from North High had beaten me in a close match in a dual meet. I got beat second round in overtime. Actually, after overtime the score was still tied. So, they decided my match outcome by a "referee's decision". The other guy had scored the first takedown in the match so according to that criteria he was declared winner. Bill from North was beaten in the second round also by the guy I had beaten at Starmont 10-0. So, Bill and I met in the match to decide 3rd and 4th place instead of meeting in the finals. Bill beat me in another close match. I got 4th place. I didn't even get a medal. I felt terrible and embarrassed. I had beaten the 2nd place winner 10-0 only a few weeks earlier. But, that's the way competition goes sometimes. Well, at least I can say that the guy who beat me in overtime won the championship match.

Cutting weight made me very weak because I didn't know what I was doing. I just starved and got dehydrated. We were playing volleyball once during wrestling practice toward the end of the season just to break up the monotony and work up a sweat. But, I was feeling weak and wasn't really getting into it. The volleyball came at me once and I just caught it. Brad was a bit upset with me but then just laughed and realized I was feeling too weak to hit the volley ball back. I remember thinking practice was over one night and then coach put 10 minutes on the clock in the gym and told us to start running. I wanted to cry. I was so tired. I think Brad was right by me and sensed my frustration and said something like, "It's okay. You can do it. Ten minutes is nothing. You'll be okay." Thank you, Brad. I haven't forgotten that.

We practiced with another team toward the end of the season. After practice we stopped at a convenience store on the way home and some of the guys were going to buy some food and drinks. I told them I couldn't because of my weight situation. Brad could have gotten something but he told them he didn't want anything and stayed with me. I like to think that Brad stayed in the car and didn't buy any food because he wanted to support me. If I couldn't eat then he wasn't going to eat in front of me. At least I like to think that's what Brad was doing--showing solidarity with me.

Cutting weight did get a little easier as the season went on. But, mentally it had taken a big toll. When sectionals came around I am not sure if I really cared if I won or not. If I won sectionals then I would have to cut weight for another week so I could wrestle in districts. And, if I won districts I would have to cut weight so I could wrestle in the state tournament. That's how sick of cutting weight I was. I couldn't imagine doing it for another week or two when it really counted.

I got beat during the second round at sectionals by a guy from Riceville. The guy did a switch and I tried to stop him but his wrist slipped out of my grip. He put the legs in on me along with a force half and I couldn't do anything. I let him ride me out the entire match. Then the guy I had beaten twice that year, once by a score of 10-0, beat the guy that had just beaten me and became sectional champion. The Riceville wrestler got second but he didn't care. He was happy because he had beaten me, the number one seed, and was now on his way to the district tournament. My season was over. I was humiliated. I was sick of cutting weight but I felt guilty and embarrassed about the way the sectional tournament had turned out.

Well, the Riceville wrestler surprised a lot of people by placing second at districts and qualifying for the state tournament. I felt a little better about losing to him at sectionals after that.

Kevin Wedo had an exceptional season at 105 lbs. and placed 3rd at the state tournament. I think Brad (of the red head metaphor) also qualified for the state tournament. My senior teammate Galen also had a good ending to his season. He beat the number one seed at the district tournament and qualified for state.

So, my sophomore saga came to a disappointing end. I didn't really even enjoy getting to eat again because I felt bad about how things had turned out. And, eating again caused me some physical pain as well. My body needed to adjust to eating again.

I decided to go to a wrestling camp the summer after my sophomore year. It would be the first wrestling camp I had ever been to.