We are in a very strange time right now.
Yes, students are back on campus, but there’s been plenty of changes to come about in response to the pandemic. We wear masks. We fill out Covid-related questionnaires in each class. We wipe down desks.
One aspect of college that has seen the ripple effects of Covid restrictions has been student sports.
As happy as many of us are to be back on campus and competing again, it’s hard to ignore these changes. One sport in particular feeling these changes drastically is wrestling.
As a wrestler, I have come across strong opponents and great challengers, but none of them compare to the global pandemic we’re experiencing.
The coronavirus has been a mean opponent, yet still we’re back on the mat.
As wrestlers, we are taught how to deal with adversity and overcome obstacles. As an indoor sport, the wrestling community was having some challenges as to how to hold our events and meets. The solution has been to withhold spectators from filling up school gyms. Consider the scenario on our end: there we are, in places once filled with people watching, cheering us on, instead now filled with silence.
There’s a new mental challenge to being on the mat, looking up at the stands and not seeing the usual supporters. Wrestling is already an individual sport. The pandemic audience ravages have made us truly feel as though we are alone out there.
It’s more than the crowds playing with our psyches though. Our partners can’t be on the sidelines unless they’re up next. This can be nerve wrecking. Student athletes are already faced with balancing full-time school loads, long practice hours, and jobs. It is challenging to not have that support system front and center.
However, it’s also an opportunity to grow as a competitor mentally.
This pandemic has created a different environment for me.
No longer are the gyms filled with noise, nor the added pressure of friends or family watching me. It truly helps me capture the moment of being on the mat with just my opponent across from me and my coach in the corner. It honed my focus.
Considering the alternative, the return to competition in itself is welcome.
For over a year I wasn’t able to compete or even train for wrestling. The pandemic gave me a new appreciation for wrestling because during the off time, I got really out of shape. I was able to reflect during this time on who I am as a competitor.
It also made me hungry for competition. Many of my teammates have been eager as well to compete. This would explain why there was a lot of commotion at our first tournament Sept. 18 when things continued to be put on hold.
The bad thing about wrestling during a pandemic is that wrestling is a full-body contact sport. So many things can be passed among wrestlers on the mat, particularly because of that close contact.
When news broke out that a trainer at our first tournament of the season tested positive for COVID, many of us became very worried that the season was off to a bad start.
Things were worked out as wrestlers sat outside the gym for hours as the other trainers and coaches were tested. We waited those hours, passing time telling stories of past tournaments and experiences. Anticipation and impatience grew as we waited to hear results. Teams arrived at 6 a.m.. Wrestling didn’t begin until 1 p.m. , once results showed the trainers and coaches were cleared.
Although the wait made things hectic and straining, I used the time to prepare myself for battle. The tournament went on and it truly was a thing of beauty to see many athletes do what they love most.
There are many procedures in place to help prevent illness.
Athletes are required to test 48 hours prior to each meet. For wrestlers, this could mean taking two tests when a dual meet and tournament are scheduled for the same week. Many schools are asking wrestlers to weigh in from their own schools, in order to prevent large gatherings before the tournament takes place. Masks are not permitted during matches but must be worn all times off the mat, as well as during pre-match warm-ups. To create a minimum capacity, all wrestlers must wait outside the gym until their weight class is called up.
After all that, the one thing that has remained the same is the match itself. Once on the mat, our athletes return to form. We focus on the person in front of us, not the virus raging all around us.
Wrestling is full of adversity. Wrestling in a pandemic is no different. Covid-19 has become just another opponent to takedown and defeat.