We had such a fun wrestling weekend! We traveled as a family to a national tournament. This particular tournament is one of my favorite events, for a variety of reasons. It’s well-run and in a town small enough that the entire place is overrun with wrestling families. There’s always a great feeling of team pride and we have so much fun as a family as well.
The boys weighed in on Friday without a problem, and then we all went to Winger’s for dinner. Yum, I love Winger’s! We made a quick stop at Walmart and then spent the evening swimming, playing, and watching TV in our hotel. That kind of stuff is always the best part of any wrestling trip.
The tournament was fun. The boys did great, the girls helped out so much, and the little guys did well during a very long day.
Little Braden worked hard. He was the underdog of his group, the youngest and almost the lightest and definitely the least experienced in his group. The other boys were seasoned champions, very experienced, very talented, older and heavier. Braden wrestled well, but ended up going out one round before the medals. He had fun and it was a good experience for him. I’m proud of his hard work and desire. Now he just needs a little more experience and confidence in himself.
Joshua had a great day. He was a stud in his bracket. He worked hard and kept his head on, he wrestled with confidence. He sailed through his bracket. In the finals, he met up with a very tough state champ, his good friend and wrestling nemesis. These two go back and forth. Josh was winning the match by one point, but the other kid managed to score with two seconds left in the match. Joshua was absolutely crushed and I felt terrible for him. He ended up taking second place. It was a sad loss for him, but I was so proud of him!
As everyone gathered around the big podium for pictures, Asher broke away from us. He ran to the podium, scrambled to the top, threw his fists in the air, and shouted, “First place!” The crowd laughed and cheered for him and he just beamed with pride. I snapped a picture for him before we pulled him down and then we had to work to hang onto him and keep him away from the podium. He kept insisting that he is really a wrestler. Soon, bud, soon!
We drove home that night. We usually stay an extra night because the tournament goes so late, but we wanted to make it home to teach our class in church. So we loaded up at about 7pm and drove home… in a blizzard! We were a little nervous about the weather and we decided we’d stop and get a hotel along the way if we ever felt like we needed to. We drove slowly and we made it safely home.
