Wrestling: Sweaty and Smelly, Yet Satisfying
By David Taylor-

Serving as the guinea pig of his brother Ryan, class of `11, sophomore Bryce Cox started wrestling in his basement at about the age of seven. Bryce says, “Ryan has pushed me more than anyone in my life. He really wants me to be good.” Bryce has always wanted to stay in shape, and he believes that wrestling does the trick. The practices are grueling and there are puddles of sweat around the wrestlers when they are done. This is caused by lots and lots of running, hard drills, live wrestling, and the worst, conditioning. If you stick your tongue out after the wrestlers have been in the wrestling room, you can probably taste the salt in the air.

“You have to try your hardest in practices or else you’ll fall behind,” says Bryce. And he has had some experience in falling behind this year. Over winter break he got sick and came back to practice with ringworm. It is a contagious fungal infection, so he had to sit out and do his own workout. Coming back from being out with ringworm, Bryce’s first match was a real struggle. After the first 30 seconds of the match, he was panting for air and exhausted. Bryce recalls, “I was down 4-6, then 5-6 in the third period. I used all my energy to toss him, and I got him on his back. I won 10-6.”

Because he sat out, the match was that close. Disease is well known in the sweaty, smelly wrestling room. Ringworm has been very apparent this year along with the usual flu virus. Sitting out made Bryce realize that there isn’t much that works you harder than wrestling practice. He has had the opportunity of wrestling both JV and varsity. “It’s a big step up,” he says. “You have to give a lot more effort when wrestling on varsity.” Bryce is the backup to senior Eric Dunford at the weight class of 182. He claims that going down to JV is a nice break, but being a back up you can’t slack off in case you have to wrestle varsity and you’re not ready. “JV is almost too easy, but you can’t ever get too confident because you may come across that really good guy, and he’ll put you in your place.” Bryce can back that up, because on JV he is 7-1.

In the start of the season, he tried wrestling up a weight class at 195 against senior Alex Hale. In wrestle offs you can decide when you’re ready to go up against the varsity wrestler. It is right before practice and everyone watches. When you win a match you are pretty happy, but when you lose that isn’t always the case. In wrestle offs you’re usually pretty unhappy with yourself, but when you lose an important match, that’s when things get really rough. Senior Nick Goldsmith has recently had a cast on his arm. It is because he punched at the wood boxes in the back hallway. He did it to take his anger out, but now understands that it was a pretty bad idea.

“The wall always wins, never punch it,” says Bryce. “I’ve heard of kids throwing exercise bikes over their heads.”

Wrestling is a pretty aggressive sport, but most wrestlers would say that the pros outweigh the cons. Freshman Liam Conroy says, “You become more confident in yourself and become able to set goals for yourself.”

Sophomore Jayden Casey says, “You gain mental and physical toughness.”

Freshman Jack Cochran states, “Wrestling, more than anything, teaches you the importance of hard work.”

Bryce states, “Wrestling teaches you all these things, but most of all, it makes you a better person.”