As my heart started beating faster I could feel the tension rising. My stomach was filled with butterflies while my body was becoming more drenched with sweat. The moment I had been waiting for had finally arrived. It was time for my first match at my KVA wrestling tournament.

I walked up to the center of the mat and wrapped the green marker around my ankle. I shook hands with my opponent and the match was ready to begin. The whistle rang in my ears as if my life depended on the battle in front of me. As soon as any movement was possible, our heads collided with full force as both of our arms came up to block the other from getting an advantage. Eventually, my opponent took a shot and wrapped his arms around my leg leaving me in a defensive position that was extremely difficult to escape. I was unable to escape giving him the advantage over me. Eventually after two out of three one minute and a half minute periods the match was over and my opponent won.

Luckily for me, there were only three people in my bracket due to loss of people in my weight class. That meant that if I won my next battle against my opponent, I would be able to participate in the championship match and wrestle for gold. Not only did that make me extremely excited, it gave me this feeling that a twenty pound weight just dropped on my shoulders. The pressure that I felt was extreme and it all depended on the four and a half minutes on the mat.

My second match started off the same as the first with a handshake and an ear shattering whistle. We both collided as our heads came together, our arms went up, and our feet shuffled so we were rotating in a circle. I took a shot causing him to collapse onto the mat underneath me. After what felt like forever, my arm got underneath his giving me the ability to go through with my plan of a Half Nelson. Then the whistle rang for a second time showing the the first period had ended and we’d have to move onto the second. Thirty seconds through the second period I had taken another shot and got him back into the Half Nelson. After three seconds of his shoulders pinned against the ground the ref slammed on the floor with his hand symbolizing that the match was over and I had won.

A lot of negativity is pointed towards girls that wrestle because “they’re not strong enough” or “wrestling is a guy sport.” Although I didn’t end up winning the championship match for the gold, I gave my all and was proud of the silver medal I had received. That medal for me proved that you could be the strongest or fastest athlete there is, but without heart, it’s useless.