There I was in the hot and packed locker room filled with loud teammates and a
rambunctious opposing team. In our tight singlets we surrounded this old white and rusty manual
scale, as we gazed upon this fragile monstrosity, the room went silent, a cold sensation swept the
room. Our emotions changed from loud and playful to scared and worried. A loud bang of a door
swinging open caused all of us to jump into line. Our coach’s unforgettable shadow casted on the
wall of the locker room, he began making his way towards us, one loud thumping step at a time.
We quickly formed two lines in weight order, lightest to heaviest. I was towards the lighter end,
at 126, there were only a few kids ahead of me in line. As each person was weighed in, the
anxiety and the gut wrenching feeling in my stomach had only deepened. Each step forward felt
as if my feet were placed in massive cinderblocks filled in with concrete and dragged through
mud. As I inched closer and closer to the scale, I felt the pressure of my teammates relying on me
to make weight. The other teams 110 was slightly overweight by a few ounces and caused a
forfeit for there team for the 110 match. Their team was pissed, and the coach chewed the kid
out. I stepped up onto the scale, sweat running down my back , there was a wrestling official and
my coach in front of the scale, checking my weight. I weighed in at 125.7 pounds, I let out a sigh
of relief and all my worries of not making weight were swept away in an instant. I made my way
out of the locker room and plopped myself on the bleachers where I enjoyed a delicious bagel
with cream cheese. However, it was when coach Cichon walked out of the locker room with a
furious look on his face, he walked over to the team captain Dillan and the other coaches. They
talk for about five minutes, and I watch Dillan make his way over to me. He tells me that our
134-pounders missed weight and I needed to bump up to that weight class for tonight’s match. I
had never wrestled with anyone in a weight class above mine before, wrestling someone 12
pounds heavier than me was going to be an extreme challenge, because I was new and
inexperienced. I glanced over at the opposing team’s 134, who was taller and more muscular
than me, I lost all hope and knew I was doomed to lose. I put my wrestling shoes on stepped on
the mat and began my warm ups, I stuck to my fundamentals and made sure to look cool on the
outside, even though I was mentally self-destructing. The officials called up the 134 match, I
walked up to the mat anxious and terrified, worried that I would let down my team, coaches,
friends, and most importantly my family. Me and my opponent shook hands and I patiently
watched the referee as he placed his whistle in his mouth, waiting to get the millisecond of
advantage over my opponent. A technique that my coach and team members taught me, I studied
my opponent’s stance and hand positioning, he had a left foot lead stance, with a over extending
reach in his torso. In one single motion, I extended my right foot forward and hit my opponent
with a single leg sweep, I penetrated his stance and took him down. My coaches and teammates
surprised shouted out my next move “half!” “Half nelson!” I got him onto his back and put him
into a half nelson and secured the pin. The match was over in just under a minute, but during the
match I felt like I had all the time in the world, I felt fast and smooth with each step I took. My
team shouted my name in celebration exclaiming “yeah roger!” “lets go!” “wooooo” “where did
he learn that?” My team celebrated as I stepped off the mat, their support washing over me. That
moment was pivotal. Before this I struggled with low self-esteem and lacked confidence, not just
in wrestling but in my ability to connect with others. Wrestling taught me that confidence is key,
whether executing a move on the mat or building relationships off it. You can not hit a move with
no passion, push, or “humph” behind it, you need that drive or confidence to push your opponent
over. Similarly with making friends, you need to be confident in yourself, in order to properly
present the best version of yourself to others. People want to meet someone who is radiating
good energy, and by having low self esteem you create this barrier that draws people away. It
took me a while to realize and accept this but, its evident in the way my friendships and
relationships took off in sophomore year in high school. I found myself talking more, saying
whatever was on my mind and experimenting with new fashion as well.
Through wrestling I learned a new language, one of body movements, resilience, self
expression and love. It wasn’t just about winning matches, but about finding my voice and
discovering how to communicate confidence both physically and socially.

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