The Struggle
The sport of wrestling brings people together like nothing I have experienced before. Of course, all sports have this aspect of camaraderie that is hard to find elsewhere. However, I have a personal connection to wrestling because it has been a part of my life since I was only a concept in my parents’ minds. So why do sports, especially wrestling, bring people together in a way that closely resembles a family?
A 2016 study done at The Ohio State University discusses the link between tragedy and social solidarity, or the expansion of community bonds. I was born five months before September 11, 2001. One of the greatest tragedies of our generation, which ironically lead to the most unified America many have ever experienced. This link between tragedy and community is observable throughout history. The commonality in all tragedy is that it stresses people out. This mutual stress leads us to lean on each other more than we would normally be comfortable doing. More than anything, stress forces us to be vulnerable. As a wrestler, there is no more vulnerable position than after a hard practice in the middle of a long season.
A wrestling season is typically from October through March. However, training occurs year-round for the most dedicated, and typically, the most successful athletes. There are so many aspects of training beyond physically tuning your body to excellence. Staying involved mentally, maintaining a social life, or just showing up every day becomes difficult over time. That is why I cling to my teammates when times get tough. Wrestlers are known as some of the toughest athletes in the world because we reach our lowest points in a controlled environment.
I still remember my first regular season college practice as one of the hardest practices I have ever experienced. After practice, everyone was exhausted, but one of my teammates was especially down bad. He lay next to the trash can for well over an hour after practice, and you can imagine why he needed the trash can.
Most people have never reached this level of exhaustion in their lives nor will they ever get close. He may have been the worst off this practice, but nobody looked down on him or considered him soft. We all understood that this was an exceptionally hard practice and the level of mental toughness required to reach that point of exhaustion. Through this practice and many more that lead us to similar feelings of exhaustion, we gained a sense of respect for each other. That respect opened the door for camaraderie, vulnerability, and an overall appreciation for each other’s company.
I will never forget a conversation I had with a Navy Pilot, who was a US Naval Academy Midshipman at the time. We were discussing my future, as I was in the process of deciding where I would attend college. He said, “It's not WHAT you’re doing, it's WHO you’re with.” This statement made me realize that my success will most likely depend on the people I am around. Not because they are going to be directly correlated to my success, but because I am more likely to be successful if I enjoy what I am doing, which, to me, is success in and of itself.
Life itself is a struggle, a series of wrestling matches. On one hand, all we have is ourselves. One mind is left alone to struggle with life’s tragedies. On the other hand, we have a team on the bench. Our family and friends are there to pick us up when we lose or celebrate with us when we win. And we are there for them in the same situations. We come together when tragedy strikes. We must do the work ourselves, but that work is more enjoyable when we are surrounded by individuals on the same path. Our common and inevitable tragedy is death. No one can escape it, so why doesn’t that alone bring us together?
“We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.” -Charles Bukowski
