You walk on the mat and size up your opponent. They are definitely more muscular then you. The ref tells you to shake hands — they have a firm grip. You take your stance, trying to be lower than your opponent. The ref blows the whistle and the match starts. Emotions are running high, coach is yelling at you to keep your head up. First round is done and you are already gassed. Second round starts and you are in down position. You get pinned quickly and walk off the mat crying.
Having experienced this in my sports career, this is why I believe wrestling is the hardest sport to participate in during high school.
I am not an expert on this, but I did participate in wrestling for one season my freshman year. I have also played soccer for two years and volleyball for eight years. In my opinion, wrestling is the hardest sport because it requires you to be mentally and physically quick. Also, there is no one to blame but yourself when you lose. Practice is split into two parts: being on the mat and conditioning. However, when on the mat, you are also intensely working out, and then having to go and condition can be very tiring.
After talking to a few students who participate in wrestling along with a variety of other sports, the responses were the same: wrestling is the hardest sport because it requires you to be physically fit, mentally quick and it’s an individual sport. The only person to blame for you losing is you. You can’t place the blame on anyone else. You can’t blame your coaches, because it all boils down to you and your performance.
When I played soccer and volleyball and we felt defeated for some reason, it was very easy to say, “This person did not do well.” It was easy to place the blame on others for why the team lost. I know emotions for me played a huge role, too. Feeling like you disappointed yourself is not fun. In fact, I know when I did wrestling, I walked off the mat crying, as do others at many tournaments. You also have to have a large amount of strategy and have to gauge everything off of your opponent. Making weight is a constant struggle as well and can make people feel not on their best game, which is another reason the students listed. When I personally had to cut last season, I felt awful and sick, and I only had to cut two times while others had to cut every week to make weight.
Additionally, wrestling is a very challenging sport mentally and physically. In other sports in high school, you never have to watch your weight and make weight twice a week. This is also a very exhausting sport compared to others. You work your body so hard, and fill your head with so much knowledge about moves and when to do them during matches. There are so many wrestling moves, and I know at OHS the coaches teach a new move almost every single day. While we know our coaches have our best interest in mind, as an athlete, this is all a lot for us to remember and implement.
Some may say that another sport is the hardest sport. For, example they could say tennis is the hardest sport because you are going against one person and there is no one else to blame if you lose. Or track is the hardest sport because you are the only one representing your school in certain events. You can argue that football is the hardest sport because the players run and tackle people, which require physical strength and strategy. Also, cross country can be argued as the hardest sport because the athletes are running long distances as fast as they can, and it’s a personal sport.
I disagree with this because tennis is not as physically challenging as wrestling. You are not going head to head with your opponent. Tennis is not a battle of strength — it’s a battle of strategy. You don’t have to watch your weight in tennis. With track and field, it can a one person sport. You are trying to beat your own personal record, but you are not battling it out on a mat with someone. Football is a team sport, and the blame for failure can be placed on the team. Additionally, cross country does not require intensive strength in all parts of your body. Though other sports combine some parts of wrestling, they don’t combine all of the reasons wrestling is difficult. Therefore, wrestling is the hardest sport.
While wrestling is the hardest sport in my opinion, it also the most rewarding. I quit wrestling because I broke my collarbone last April and scared myself out of getting back on the mat for fear of getting injured again. Now I wish I got over my fears and joined this season. This sport is a once-in-a-lifetime experience where you challenge yourself and push yourself to your limits, but because of these aspects, it is also the most rewarding. I know when I won my one and only match, I was over the moon excited. When I finished my wrestling season, I was in the best shape of my life — able to run a mile easily and actually had muscle because I worked out five days a week. I hope people understand how hard this sport actually is, and that it’s not just rolling around on a mat with someone for fun.
