Boys Can Beat Girls

Boys Can Beat Girls

Imagine a boy and a girl of the same weight, trying to be the first to pin the other.   Who do you think would win?   That is the very question I asked myself in the tenth grade.   When the challenge or dare was presented to wrestle on the all boys team, I could not pass it by.   After all, girls can beat boys.
Joining the boys wrestling team was not as easy as expected.   There was a physical fitness test to pass, as well as the constant physical strain of practice.   Although most people supported the idea of a girl on a boy’s team, there were some who thought the idea was ludicrous.   Under the constant pressure to succeed in the sport and prove that it was possible for girls to wrestle boys proved to be a bigger challenge then was first thought.  
The practices every day were grueling and intense, both physically and mentally.   The constant moving, running, drilling, sliding, dropping and sweating was an easy way for me to keep with the lightweight class of 98 to 103.   Learning the take downs and the pinning moves were at first harder to grasp than expected.   However, with each practice, the take downs became like a natural reaction to the whistle that was blown at the beginning of each match.   With rigorous practice and constant work, I proved myself as an avid wrestler, and before long, it was time for my first match.
Nervous and excited to finally get the chance to prove myself, I first had to get weighed in.   After the weigh-ins, each wrestler was expected to warm up before the match as to not pull a muscle or tear any ligaments.   Stretching, followed by jump-roping, was my personal choice of preparing for matches.   It was then time for the match to begin.   Walking to the wrestling matt, I could hear the whisper and hush of the crowd.   Tension filled the air.   The boy on the opposite team looked terrific and walked to meet me in the center of the matt.   We promptly shook hands and stared at each other, sizing one another up, while getting into starting...