He Stands Alone

What high school sport makes its demand on the individual? Amateur wrestling does!

When a boy walks onto the mat, HE STANDS ALONE.

No one will run interference for him. No one will pass the ball when he is under the net. No one will catch a high fly if he makes a bad pitch. He stands alone.

In other high school sports, where individual scores are kept, the contest is determined in time, distance and height. But in wrestling the score is kept on the boy's ability to overcome an opponent in hand to hand contest...where a two second interval at any time could mean a loss or a WIN. If an opponent gains an advantage there will be no timeout...and all can be lost in two seconds. Yes, the boy stands alone.

There is no place on a wrestling team for a show-off, the half-hearted, or the weakling. When the whistle blows, a boy puts his ability, his determination, and his courage on the line.

We who are close to the young men on our school wrestling team have watched the range of human emotions from elation to heartbreak.

We have seen coaches with tears running from their eyes as they tried to console a young man who has given his all...yet lost. He has become a man. Wrestling is a tough, hard sport, and like life, it is the survival of the fittest. The young man who enters and stays with the team knows this. He knows that when the time comes and the whistle blows...

He Stands Alone