That's my boy!

It has been ten weeks. 

 

19 practices to be exact. 

 

With 1.5 hours at each practice.

 

Now the time has come for Jacob's first wrestling tournament.

 

 

To be completely honest, we did not feel he was ready.  He gets bored during practices, goofs off too much, overall doesn't appear to try his best.  But the league's mandatory tournament is next week and we thought it best for him to get a taste of live wrestling before inviting family along to watch.

 

The morning of the tournament came... and so did the tears.  Frustration.  Anxiety.  Fear.  Nerves.  All to be expected and completely normal.  And can all be calmed simply by having your best bud and cousin there wrestling too.

 

Of course, it also helps to have a seasoned wrestling veteran in your corner - like big cousin Austin.

 

 

 

Then its go time!  Jacob's first match.

 

 

He did not win the match but he also did not get pinned.  For this being his first experience out on the mat, I call that a victory!

 

Its back into the stands for some congratulating and peps talks....

 

 

...then its back at it again.

 

 

 

Jacob did not win his second match either but, again, did not get himself pinned.  By his third match, he was finally getting the hang of it... and came out the winner!

 

 

 

When talking with Jacob that morning about his feelings of wrestling, he very adamantly said "I don't like wrestling.  I want to play soccer."  However, after taking his place on the podium and carrying his 2nd place trophy, his tuned changed a bit.   Suddenly wrestling wasn't so bad.

 

 

Dear Jacob, you may not have enjoyed every moment of this season and that's okay.  You may have gotten bored practicing the same move over and over again and that's okay too.   But you stuck with it.  You fought hard when it mattered.  You came out a stronger, more confident boy than when you started.  Only a few more practices and one more tournament to go.  You can do this.  We're proud of you.  Great job, Jacob.