I will move on from wrestling, I just have to put these thoughts to paper as they were so emotional for all of us at the time and in the moment. Sitting in the stands, with nothing else to do for hours between matches tests one's mettle. All we could do was try and stay positive for Mijo and the team, even as the starts to come around and we have been in the building since around 8:00am, it is a test of stamina, not just for the wrestlers, but everyone in the building. The end came too fast, he was pinned in his third match, and just like that, his season ended. There is no replay, no complaining, nothing to do but sit there and accept reality. I was honestly overwhelmed by emotion and cried, not for myself, but because my boy had fallen in love with this sport and just like that, we were all sitting there with a season fallen short of his personal goals of reaching state. All the effort of extra practices and controlling his diet and running around the neighborhood at various hours anytime he had a few extra minutes free, all that was just now not enough.
It took a good 5-10 minutes for him to compose himself, I know the coaches had a good cry on the sidelines, when we finally went down to find him, I ran into the coaches and I know this isn't normal, but we've had a close relationship with these coaches, and tears were shed. I thanked them for all their hard work and making my son a better person, they both said he was a one in a generation kid who just gives it his all and loves his teammates and is loved and respected by them as well. The older coach told me it was an honor to have worked with such a fine young gentleman and we should be proud of him, he will one day make a hell of a leader in whatever he does.
We found him a few minutes later, we cried a bit, having to accept it was all over, but he said very maturely, "ehh, I know I gave it my best shot, it is what it is, I'm ok." In the end, he was right, in all things, you prepare as best you can, and then hope things fall in place. They won't always go your way, but that is just life. You are still a winner if you know you did your best. He wrestled for three years, the first one in Covid time, where half the meets didn't even have a wrestler in weight category. I still think he was great, in his senior season, he did not lose to anyone from Austin, he had 8 total loses, all from wrestlers from out of town, against his 24 wins or something like that. I say for a kid who came in late to the sport, he did pretty damn good.
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