Gabe & Cooper can sing the above blog post title after today's home tournament. That's right, they both won their brackets!
And I have once again discovered that I am NOT made to be a wrestling mom. Either I'd better toughen up, or hopefully the boys will lose interest! ha! But keeping in mind how much they both love the sport, I think I'd better just toughen up.
It's not that I'm a complete wimp and can't handle watching my kids play sports. I can watch them play football or baseball just fine. It's just wrestling one-on-one, boy versus boy, and it's completely nerve-wracking to me!
And then there's the crazy parents. Yes, I said it...CrAzY! I've witnessed parents yelling at the refs, yelling at their child, making their child cry, making the refs almost cry, telling their son NOT to shake their opponents hand because they should have won, etc., etc. It's disgusting, really. No wonder there's so many poor sports out there.
But I digress. Back to the nerve-wracking part...
Gabe's last match today was against a boy who we knew would be a tough competitor. He placed second at state last year, or so we heard. If you recall, Gabe wasn't able to compete at state wrestling last year due to a broken arm. Anyway, the match went back and forth and back and forth. Gabe was almost stuck on his back twice, but he powered through. There's nothing that makes me more proud than to see my child working hard, trying his best and not giving up. Win or lose, that's all Jason and I ask as parents, that they don't give up and they try their best. And today, that was enough! Gabe ended up pinning him for the championship! Yay!
I did videotape the match, but I'm scared to watch it for fear of embarrassment. I am not normally a loud person. But something about watching my kids wrestle brings out the 'loud' in me. I cheer loudly {for me, anyway} trying to yell out moves that I don't even understand. "Put in the half, turn him, dig deep, chest to chest, on your toes." These wrestling terms just start spewing out of my mouth as I excitedly jerk the video camera around, trying to steady myself but to no avail. Then I'll stop watching the match through the camera and a few seconds later realize that I'm pointing the camera at the ground. The results are not pretty. I'll try and sift through the footage and see what I got, maybe posting a portion later.
But for now, I am proud of both my boys!
This is Cooper's first year of wrestling, and has he ever surprised us all! You see, Cooper has never shown much interest in sports. I don't know if it's because he would rather not compete with his naturally athletic older brother, or if it's just his laid back personality. But before this year, we had thought Cooper would not be a wrestler. He's not overly aggressive, and can tend to be a bit sensitive. Cooper is also a bit of a clown, always joking about something. We had thought he'd never desire to step foot on a wrestling mat. And if he did get out there, we were fairly certain he would either giggle or cry his way through the match.
Knowing we would never want to pressure our kids to do anything they didn't want to do, we presented Cooper with the choice to wrestle at the beginning of the season. Cooper is five, and that's the age you can start practice at our school. As I said, there was no pressure, we just asked. And to our surprise, he said yes! So Cooper started practice and really enjoyed it, but he still wasn't sure about wrestling in a tournament. The first tournament we took Gabe to this season, we gave Coop the choice to wrestle or watch. He chose to watch. The next tournament, he chose to watch again. We thought that maybe he wouldn't ever want to compete. But finally, he told us he was ready. We waited in anticipation to see how he'd react to a real live match. And we quickly learned that this boy is meant to wrestle.
When he gets out on that mat, it's as if a switch has been flipped and he's all business, ready to get a win. He has picked up the moves so easily, and uses those moves with assertiveness, confidence and focus. But he hasn't lost that smile, grinning ear to ear as his hand is raised up in the air in victory. It's glorious, really. Today marks Cooper's second tournament, first championship and first two pins!
So although wrestling may not be this mom's first choice of sport, I certainly see the hard work ethic it has helped encourage in my boys. And I certainly enjoy the rewards...two little boys with a humble confidence and good sportsmanship to boot!
Tiny Coop, at a whopping 41 pounds...
{excuse the poor photo. I had my fixed lens on and could not zoom out. And since I had to get back so far to get all the boys in, I had a head in the way! ha! Despite the poor photo, I do love their faces. Click on the photo to see it larger. The boy on the left almost in tears. The boy on the inside right, with crossed arms & giving the evil eye. And the boy on the far right in last place, but looking the happiest of all. Then there's my Coop on top, looking a bit overwhelmed!}
And Gabe, wrestling at 58 pounds...
{This time the head I got in the shot was purposeful, because it's Cooper cheering on Gabe. Isn't that sweet!}
Way to go boys! We really couldn't be more proud of your great attitudes, win or lose.
1 comment:
Oh congrats to your boys! You should be very proud of them. That is awesome! XO
jessica
Post a Comment