"My Sport" by Bartholomew Stewart

There is something special about every sport I play, but Wrestling is unique. Honestly, there is no sport that is tougher than Wrestling. Each and every day, it kicks my butt. But I continue on. Hard work in Wrestling has the largest benefit, and leads directly to success. Wrestling is proof to me that hard work pays off, and because of my hard work, I am fourth in the Concorde District at 145 lbs. Wrestling is the most difficult sport, not because you have to cut weight, but because I can only rely on myself on the mat, and I cannot rely on my teammates. The best feeling on Earth, is winning a hard match, having the referee lift up my arm over the kid that I just beat, and looking into the stands to see my father, and how happy, and proud he is. That is the best reward for anything I have ever done.  Wrestling is competition on a completely different level. In order to win, I have to out muscle my opponent, out work him, out think him, and outsmart him. The only thing I regret is that there are only 72 practices in a season, and I only have two seasons before I graduate, and move onto college. Wrestling has also showed to me how time slows down, and how it also speeds back up. During practice, when I have to do suicides, or sandbags. During conditioning, seconds drag on, mocking me as I struggle to continue. Minute by minute, I fight on, until the clock runs out. Coach Gonz would then say: “Good work guys, break it down.” Then we would come together someone would say: “Hornets on three, one, two, three,” and we would all say “Hornets!” When I wrestle, I fight for my school, for my family, and for my town. People play sports because they are fun, but they also play to represent their town, and to help give their town a name. I also play to give respect to my name: Vedova. When a person gets first place at Districts, or places at Regionals, or States, their name is painted on the wall in the Wrestling room. Those people are then immortalized as part of Herndon’s history. Getting my name up on that wall is the greatest achievement, and honor that any wrestler could get. One day I will get there, but for now, the seconds just tick by.