Final attempt at Mighty Wrestler

Okay, trying this YET AGAIN!

We have had a problem getting the blog posts to publish.  After 30-45 minutes of writing I would attempt to publish and everything would disappear except the title.  FRUSTRATING!  All would be lost and no amount of back-button clicking would bring it back.  After some fiddling around, pouting, and a google search, we finally figured out that there was a browser issue.  Hopefully, fingers crossed, this post will publish without any technical difficulties!

I don't have 45 minutes to re-write all that I had written twice before, but here are some highlights of wrestling season:

1.  Harrison participated in the Minden Wrestling Club this winter.  He went to practices twice a week with Lige.  It was great Father/Son together time.  Lige stayed to help during practice and loved it.

2.  Harrison was involved in five tournaments in Kearney, Minden, Holdredge and Franklin.  For his age group, everyone "won" and received a medal.  However, Harrison was fully aware of the matches he actually won and which ones he lost.  He loved collecting medals.  :)

3.  Four year olds are capable of learning and applying wrestling fundamentals.  I was amazed that Harrison learned so quickly how to grab the leg to get the shot in, throw down, get chest to chest and hold them till the ref blew the whistle.  It was so fun to watch this actually happen with kiddos so young.

4.  Within seconds of Harrison stepping onto the mat at his first match, I instantly transformed from a sweet, well-mannered, quiet woman into a yelling, screaming, maniac of a mom.  After his first tournament my throat hurt from screaming so much, and as I pondered that, I thought to myself, "Oh no!  I've become one of those moms!"  I did find it unsettling to be screaming at four year olds, "Grab his leg!  Throw him to the ground!  Get him and keep him down!"  But it didn't stop me from screaming it...even when the other poor kid's mama was sitting next to me.  Like I said, a maniac mom! 

 5.  I was surprised by how much crying is involved in wrestling.  Whether it's because the young kids got a little hurt or the older kids got beat, there were tears at every tournament.  There is actually a "Crying Rule" where you are charged with a medical timeout to pull yourself together.  If it happens again they are out.  Harrison didn't cry during any of the matches, but during one tournament he cried two separate times between matches.  The next day he had a fever...so I'm sure a virus played into the tears!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :)

 6.  I learned that Harrison is quite scrappy.  He is a fighter and he didn't give up, even when he was getting beat.  He fought really hard to keep the other wrestlers from rolling him onto his back.  They would try to get their half-Nelson in, and Harrison would clamp his arms to his side and wouldn't let them.  I'm a proud mama.

7.  Harrison got in the zone by "putting his mean face on".  It was hilarious. 

8.  We learned that there was a whole world of wrestling that we never knew about.  At one of the tournaments there were close to a thousand people in attendance.  And there were other tournaments in the area that same day.  Wrestling is it's own little sub-culture that no one knows about until you need to know about it!

Wrestling was a fun way to get through the winter.  It was wonderful to see Harrison commit to something of his own and work hard at it.  It was good for the girls to understand what it meant to cheer on and support their brother for a change...instead of the other way around.  Harrison had a good time.  Did he love it enough to do it again next year?  We'll just have to wait and see.