It was an oddly warm night for February in Massachusetts, over a thousand people packed into the field house to watch the All State wrestling tournament. To qualify for the tournament you have to place top 6 in your respective weight class in one of the three divisional state tournaments. I qualified and that's why I found myself wrestling in that packed field house last Friday night, after winning my first match, I had to wrestle the top seed and returning all-state champion.
           

A match I was expected to lose, I went out there and took him down to the mat early and shocked the crowd. He went on to win the match, but the match was tough so it was considered a "good loss." After that I went into the consolation bracket which became do or die for me. As a senior, one more loss and my high school career would be over. It was late in the night and I had one more match to win before advancing to the next day and coming closer to placing at All-States. However, it didn't go that way, the next match I had was a rematch from the weekend before which I lost. The kid was a former prep school All American but failed out and went to Winchester High, he beat me and now it was time for me to avenge the loss. Nerves were at an all time high but somewhat soothed with my dad coaching in my corner. He wanted it just as bad as me, for he made me the wrestler I am today. During the match everything went wrong for me and I lost, for a long five seconds after the time expired I laid with my head on the mat until I heard my dad say "Alright let's go."
         

I got up reluctantly shook hands and ran off, I cleared the gate around the mat that separated the spectators from wrestlers with one jump and ran. I did not stop running ‘til I saw an exit that led to the back of the field house where the wind was starting to turn the relatively warm night, cold. I paced back and forth trying to let out steam releasing a curse word and punching a fence every minute or so until my dad came out and grabbed my shoulder. I turned into him and cried. I'm not really a crier but this was emotional, that would be the last time wearing my team's singlet and wrestling for my dad, for my career to end in defeat killed me and I sat there in his arms, “I’m so proud of you, don’t even worry about it.” Wrestling is a way me and my father bond and that is why we are so close and hugging it out with him in his coaching polo and khakis and me my singlet was an emotional time for the both of us. I never became a champion and he just watched his son's career, whom he had been coaching for eight years, come to an end. In that moment I realized I don't want to wrestle in college, I need to, I still have things to prove to myself. And to my dad as well.