Even with this lack of future, there is an incredible number of athletes who push themselves to the extreme to be the best wrestlers they can be. The workouts that college wrestlers go though are more intense than any other I have ever heard of. Members of my high school team would cut weight by starving themselves all day, and then doing a very high intensity work out with a sweat suit on. All that just to make weight for a meet. Then, after being starved and exhausted, they wrestle at the meet and have to be able to give full effort. Those were just my high school teammates. Serious college wrestlers are on another level entirely. I don’t know this to be true for sure, but I have heard stories of wrestlers putting on ten pounds in one night after a big wrestling meet.
I know a lot of people think of sweaty guys rubbing up on each other in tights when they hear the word wrestling. Yea, this may be partially true, they are usually sweaty and they do wear tights, but it is a very strategic game. Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Wrestlers examine film of their opponents to find their weaknesses in order to exploit them and get the upper hand. They also examine their own film to find their own weaknesses and work on them in practice. In a match, you may have an excellent takedown, but your opponent is very skilled on the ground. So instead of taking him down and trying to pin him, you could continuously take him down and let him get back up to get ahead in points and wear him out. Then, with the lead and a tired opponent, you are able to take more risks and go for a pin. It is a very intense sport that requires some understanding and a little bit of getting used to.
The final reason I respect wrestlers is because I used to be one and I know how strenuous it can be. Wrestling a full three round match is probably the most exhausting thing I have ever done.
3 comments:
I never knew that college wrestling didn't lead wrestlers to a higher level. I don't see how they can strive to succeed with only the motivation of their team. This astonishes me because I've known most people to play college sports only to get spotlight. These sound like great guys.
I never thought about the fact that after college wrestling there's no prospect of a career, but thinking about now it does bring about the question of where wrestlers draw their motivation for success.
Also, I agree that the stereotype of wrestlers is false. It seems to be much more strenuous of a sport than it is percieved.
This baffles me. I can't understand how someone could work so hard for very little benefit.
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