Back on the mat

My days as a high school wrestler were brief.

No, really. My time on the mat literally lasted just a few days.

I had been urged to go out for the sport by my wrestling friends. You know the type I’m talking about.

They’re the kind that will come up to you and give you an ankle pick as their way of saying hello.

I finally gave in and told Brian Schleis that I would give it a shot if he threw me five touchdown passes our junior year of football.

Schleis tossed me three in the first half of our first game that season and proudly forecasted on the bus ride home how he was looking forward to having a new recruit in the wrestling room.

Follow Preps Agenda on Facebook

Help support Preps Agenda

I was about 150 pounds dripping wet out of the shower during football season, and more stubborn than athletic, so I guess that equated perfectly to getting down to being a 125-pounder to put in the lineup back then.

I thought I was in good shape heading into the first week of practice. I was wrong.

I never experienced more charley horses than I did that week. By the end of it I decided to turn in my headgear.

I confirmed what I already knew going in: Wrestling is the toughest sport there is.

The physical and mental demands are greater than any other athletic endeavor in my opinion.

Those that compete in, coach and follow wrestling are a close-knit group. A family, really.

A Saturday wrestling tournament consists of getting up early to make the team bus and making sure you’re making weight for a full day of competition.

Meanwhile, parents settle in and can’t help but to get to know each other quite well as they spend countless hours in the bleachers.

Needless to say, there is a lot of mutual respect no matter what school colors you’re wearing when it comes to wrestling. Because after all – Once you’ve wrestled, everything else in life is easy.

It’s extremely hard for an outsider to get access to that inner circle.

I’m extremely thankful to the wrestlers, coaches and followers of the sport who welcomed me into their world over the years during my days as a newspaper reporter.

Besides being the toughest sport to compete in, wrestling is also one of the toughest to cover.

It’s often misunderstood by outsiders and takes an extreme amount of hustle to cover it well.

I still recall Rob Demovsky, a Packers beat reporter, saying you couldn’t pay him any amount of money to cover the individual state wrestling tournament.

That’s why I developed the saying – Once you’ve covered wrestling, everything else you cover is easy.

The raw emotion of the sport provides the perfect canvas for a young writer to develop.

After initially looking at the individual state wrestling tournament as a dreaded part of the job, it became one of my favorite events to document.

It was one of the ones I knew I would miss the most when I was told my services weren’t needed anymore at my old job.

I’m writing you today to let you know I’ve still got more stories on the mat to share.

Following a year away from the sport, I was taken aback by the number of coaches that approached me to say hello and ask how I was doing when I attended the Battle on the Bay at Bay Port High School in December.

I’m looking forward to covering the stretch run of the season for teams in the Green Bay area this year.

Don’t expect to see match results here. That’s what TrackWrestling.com is for.

I’ve never been one to produce a thorough hold-by-hold breakdown, but I’ll stand by my work when it comes to providing a narrative to wrestlers in the Green Bay area.

If you appreciate the coverage I offer, please consider making a contribution to my GoFundMe. The funds will be used for my travel costs and help me build towards saving for future projects I would like to do for high school sports in the Green Bay area.

I’ve moved up a few weight classes from when I made a feeble attempt at making it on the mat as a wrestler.

But I’m still just as stubborn.

I’m not ready to walk away from doing what I’m passionate about, so I’m going to continue giving this my best shot.

 – AP

Wrestling teams Preps Agenda covers: Ashwaubenon, Bay Port, Coleman, Crivitz, De Pere, Denmark, Gillett/Suring, Green Bay Preble, Green Bay United, Kewaunee, Luxemburg-Casco, Oconto, Oconto Falls, Peshtigo, Pulaski, Seymour, Southern Door, Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol, West De Pere, Wrightstown.