Wrestling is one of a kind. The nature of the sport weeds out the weak-willed and faint-of-heart, but it rewards those who grit their teeth and push on no matter the circumstances.

Training in a wide variety of combat sports, I can honestly say that boxing, jujitsu, kickboxing all pale in comparison to wrestling .

What separates the sport from even other combat sports is that that when you wrestle, your coach has very little control of the intensity. Sure he can have you go “100%” all practice and look around the room and see his athletes pretend to work while he thinks you’re doing it for real. Rarely will you see this in the mat room.

The team is a family, an ecosystem . We know that we will never get better if we don’t push each other. We know we can’t push each other if we don’t get as good or better than our partner. We know we can’t be as good as our partner unless we put it all on the line every day. We can’t put it all on the line if we don’t get pushed by our team.

And the cycle continues.

This process begins to shape each and every one of us into a fighter.

From experience I can tell you that being a fighter has nothing to do with your strength or skills with your fists. Being a fighter means you will lay it all on the line to achieve what you have set out to achieve, and whether it’s on the mat, in the ring, on the field or in the classroom , when you’re a fighter, you always find a way to achieve your goal. You refuse to break whatever promise you’ve made for yourself.

Wrestlers have a saying I’ve heard since I started wrestling in the 7th grade.“The very first time you set foot on the mat you realize you’re not the man you thought you were. Most people will quit with that, but a wrestler spends the rest of his life becoming that man.”

Nearing the end of my wrestling career and the beginning of my life as an adult, I can look back at the man I thought I was. I quickly forgot about that and became proficient in wrestling. Now I look at the man I’ve become and I know I’m ready for anything. I know where I’m going because of where I came from and I pay it all adieu to my family of fighters in a couple of months.