My son Forrest is that good character in a book. The
character everyone loves and roots for. You can’t help but like him because of
his goodness. It radiates from him. He’s not loud. He’s humble, quiet and observant. When he became smarter than me, in the
sciences and math, I knew I had to let him go. This last fall he skipped a
grade, left my home school classroom and started high school as the youngest
freshman.
This was all new to him.
Such a big step in the quiet life he lived at home. To help Forrest come
out of his shell, Mike (Forrest’s dad) and I thought it good for him to go out
for a sport. Forrest had never played an organized sport except when he got his
family together to play some backyard baseball.
Because of mine and Mike’s great love for wrestling, we
suggested to Forrest that he go out for his high school team. I don’t think it
was his first choice but he was willing to give it a try for his parents. He trusted us. We (and he) knew going in he wasn't going to be as experienced and strong as many on the team. Some of the
other boys had been wrestling since they were little kids. Still, he gave it
his all. He worked hard; harder than he had ever physically worked before. He became stronger and confident. He became
part of a brotherhood as those on the team welcomed him in. Because of his lack
of experience, he didn't make the varsity team but he wore his JR varsity place
with dignity.
Last Monday was the team’s first match. Because the teams
are small in our area, instead of one team to wrestle, sometimes there are
more. Monday there were a total of three teams and they would all be considered
varsity matches. Rarely are there enough guys for Jr. Varsity matches. Only the
best come out for the teams.
In hopes to give Forrest the chance to wrestle in a match,
his coach arranged for him to wrestle a varsity opponent from one of the other
schools. Cocke County happens to have very strong wrestlers. They are solid and
thick farm boys. As a mother, this worried me. My fear that Forrest would be up
against one of these boys had come true.
The meet starts with the middle weights, then goes to the
heavy weights and last are the light weights to wrestle. Forrest’s weight class
is 120 lbs but he is lighter than this, much lighter than his opponent. His match happens to be the very last match
with this school. To top it all off, the score is 42 Rebels (us) and 36 Gamecocks
(them). If Forrest’s opponent can pin him, their team will tie with ours and
not lose. I’m sure Forrest’s opponent was counseled to destroy my boy. When he stood up to Forrest, he was taller
and stronger. You could tell he was experienced and an upper underclassman But what he didn't know is
that my boy had more heart. What he didn't know is that my boy came in with a
mission too. He could not let his team down.
Forrest didn't win the match but what he did win was that as
many pinning combinations as his opponent put him in, Forrest fought out. As
hard as he squeezed my boy, Forrest fought back. Never once, did Forrest give
up. He fought and fought and fought. When the crowd, his team, his coach,
thought the match over, he didn't He fought on. By the second period, the
crowd, his team, the other team who were only watching and waiting for their
time to wrestling, were cheering and chanting my son’s name. His coach was
weeping. What was once just me and Mike turned into a gym full of support for
one little underdog.
The underdog became the winner and the perfect ending to the
story. Sometimes you don’t have to win the match. Sometimes you just have to do
your best. Our team one by one point because of a boy, my boy; the boy who
refused to be pinned.
