Wrestling Season

This year was Wesley's second season coaching high school wrestling. James and Naomi were much more into going to practices and matches than last year. Not that they were actually interested in watching the wrestling. James loved running and jumping on the mats, getting in the wrestlers way, and having lollipops. Naomi loved playing with her toys, pretending to be shy, and having lollipops.

We went to almost every home match. They insisted on sitting at the top of the bleachers, I guess so that we maximized the disruption when we left the gym for bathroom breaks, time-outs, and freedom to run and yell in the hallway.


A true highlight for James was helping roll up the mats after the match.


He also loved playing with Chance and was able to ride the bus back from an away match with the team.


Wesley took the kids to practice with him once a week because I had a late class. The kids definitely picked up some wrestling skills. We sometimes encounter conflict because of these skills, but usually Wesley is willing to wrestle them both so they aren't wrestling each other.



Naomi in her stance. "Daddy...wanna wessew?"


The team did much better than last year, getting a few team wins. I'm very proud of the great job Wesley did. Coaching at NCSSM was challenging due to the the intense academic environment and having only juniors and seniors. He coached two wrestlers to the state tournament and one won the state championship. Here he is presenting his wrestler with his award.


I've definitely grown in my appreciation for the sport this season and hope that after grad school, Wesley will be able to return to coaching.