Samuel Jendrysik, Sophomore
When most people hear the term “wrestling,” they probably picture packed arenas, hulking figures, and flashy costumes. What never crosses the mind of the average person is the prospect of a 4:30 A.M. wakeup time, a two hour bus ride, or the grueling practices that the wrestlers on the Marblehead-Swampscott wrestling team endure six days a week for two and a half months. What the spectators never see is these kids, aged between 12-18, pushing their bodies to the limit for two to three hours a night throughout the winter.
So why do they do it? What drives these kids to push themselves to these physical and mental extremes? Some do it to say they did. These are the benchwarmers, the sweatshirt wearers, the first week quitters. They either drop the sport on day one, or come to as few practices as possible until they get a sweatshirt then never come back. The rest, that other 96%, do it to improve themselves physically, and to challenge themselves mentally. They put up with the early wakeups and the brutal practices, knowing they will go to bed that day having made themselves 1% better.
But wrestling isn’t just about the punishment. It’s about the camaraderie formed between the members of the team. The respect I’ve witnessed from the sidelines over this past season fills me with joy. Even after a hard loss, everyone has someone to commiserate with. Every second I spent pushing myself down after a loss was replaced with two seconds of teammates lifting me up. These people I never would’ve interacted with if not for wrestling spent their evening lifting me up.
So even though wrestling isn’t in the cards for me, the friendships I’ve made and the memories I’ve forged will last a lifetime. So I hope the next time you hear the term “wrestling,” the first thing that comes to mind is teenagers working as hard as they possibly can to make themselves and each other that little bit better.