Proud Mama

Whirling Dervish is one of those kids who can drive a parent nuts.  He's brilliant, but also ADHD, and therefore forgetful.  He scores in the 99th percentile, but has trouble turning his homework in.  He's lightning fast in tryouts, but lackadaisacal once he makes the elite travel team.  He's the kind of kid that teachers and coaches tell you has great potential if he'd just apply himself.

This is why this wrestling season has been so exciting for me as a parent.  When WD's coach told me how impressed he was with him, I thought, "We'll see."  When the coach said that he was such a hardworker and wanted to learn techniques only being taught to the veterans, I thought, "Really? My kid?"  When I would pick him up from practice and he was dripping with sweat and excited to tell me about what he had learned that day, I started to get excited, too.  When the coach said, "I'm putting him on the varsity" after only 3 weeks, I was flabbergasted.  He's a very young 14yo freshman, and most of the other wrestlers have at least 4 yrs under their belts with some of them wrestling since they were 5 or 6.

If you've been following my blog, you know that WD's varsity debut was delayed because he dislocated his shoulder a couple of weeks ago.  Well he just started practicing again on Wednesday.  And yesterday his coach let him wrestle one match at the Campbell-Savona Tournament.



That's my baby on the right listening to the announcer.



Here he is shooting on his opponent.  He was so fast, his foot is a blur.

He locked his opponent up in a cradle, and after 90 seconds pinned him, with his opponent's teammates close in and shouting.

And here's my baby, with the ref declaring him the winner.



Can you believe I'm playing Food Nazi to a kid that small?



This is his first season wrestling.  Ever.  And he's a varsity athlete that won his first match.  Ever.  With a pin.  In the first round.  Technically speaking he's 2 - 0 because he received a forfeit, too.  That's the only match he wrestled yesterday, because his coach was just testing his shoulder out.   Oh, and that kid he beat?  An almost 16 sophomore. 

What can I say I'm a proud, proud, mama.  Thanks for popping in and listening to me brag about my baby.

P.S. If you're wondering - those blue things aren't knee braces, some wrestlers wear pads to keep from getting mat burns on their knees.