An Example of Perseverance in Sports

For most people, winning is harder than losing, but in a sport as competitive as wrestling that is not the case. There is a lot of pressure put on you to be the best you can be, and that's why I like it so much. I was never really a great athlete, so when the opportunity came up to join the wrestling team when I was a freshman, I was a little skeptical. My first few weeks on the team were challenging; I couldn't beat anyone at practice, and I couldn't bench press much. My self-esteem took a big hit those first few weeks. After a while I started to enjoy it though.

I never liked having to stay after school for wrestling, but I never liked to start something without finishing it. Luckily for me my coach asked me if I wanted to join wrestling again as a sophomore, it would be the first year we would have an in-school program and I excitedly said yes. The summer passed quickly and I started school again. I had a fresh start this time, and I had a bunch of friends at practice. The wrestling season started up, and although I still wasn't exactly up to par with any state champions, I still had a lot of fun.

Time came for the district tournament. I was pretty confident but still nervous at the same time. The next day we arrived at the school where the tournament was being held. My first match didn't go so well, the other wrestler ended up beating me by one point, we never got close to pinning each other. I had a lot of time in between my next match, so I thought about what I was going to do, and I decided that I was going to do whatever it took to win. The referee called my name over the speaker and I got ready for my next match. I walked onto the mat and shook the other wrestler's hand, and the match started. A few minutes went by and I could hear all my friends shouting "go go go!" which was a great energy boost. I ended up pinning the guy in the last period. It was a great feeling when the ref raised my hand. At the end of the day I was glad that I didn't quit when