Throwback by Dave Conifer

Author:Dave Conifer
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: wrestling teens peer pressure
Publisher: Dave Conifer

Chapter 14

When I woke up the next morning I was surprised to find Mendez in bed with me! I knew that he’d been sharing the room next door with Coach Miles. I quickly guessed that Coach was snoring and it had kept Mendez awake.

As I lay quietly waiting for everyone else to wake up it hit me that I had already reached an elite level. There were seven other regions in New Jersey. That meant that there were only thirty-one other 171-pound wrestlers waking up and preparing to wrestle in the semifinals.

My thoughts turned to Andy Makris. From the little bit that I’d seen of his match the night before I thought I could muscle him. I’d run it by the guys later but I was pretty sure that’s how I was going to approach the match. On paper I would be the underdog because Makris was seeded higher and had a better record but I felt confident that I would win. The real problem was who probably awaited me in the finals if I did beat Makris. It would most likely be my familiar foe, Ken Brown. Three of my five losses had come against him. After eighteen minutes on the mat with him I still hadn’t figured him out.

As soon as everybody was up and showered we headed over to the high school. Nobody had any trouble at weigh-ins. That was the last time we would have to make weight all weekend, which was a relief. After that, since we had ninety minutes before the session would begin, we ate some of the breakfast food we had picked up at McDonalds on the way over.

Nick and I went out on the mats to roll around after we dressed. He rarely seemed nervous and today was no exception. I, on the other hand, had a severe case of nerves. After Nick left the mat I still felt tight so I spent five minutes in the corner with my jump rope before returning to the mat to stretch.

At five minutes before nine we were ordered to clear the mat so I retreated to the warm up area. I didn’t even look into the stands. I hoped very much that Judy was there but there were too many other things I needed to think about.

As they had done the night before, the tournament directors arranged for Nick’s and my matches to be held back to back on the same mat. I stood behind Coach Miles while Nick wrestled but I was too self-absorbed to do anything but watch. He didn’t need my help, anyway. By the end of the second period he was leading 8-0. In the third period he added another set of back points and won his way into the region finals with a 10-0 victory. I found myself in awe of him, wondering what it was like to make it to the region finals almost effortlessly. Then again, although it would be his fourth appearance in the region finals in as many years, he had yet to win one.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.