Pin 'Em! Hold 'Em! Keep 'Em Down!

For the past few months our lives have focused on something completely foreign to my previous experience. Youth Wrestling.


What? What mother lets her kids get involved with that, or lets them wear that super cool singlet? This one. After months of EVERYONE telling us that wrestling in Monticello is
H-U-G-E we decided to give it a try.


Turns out, totally true. Monticello High School has all but dominated the Utah 1A (that means really small schools for those out of state). In 2009, they took state, one of many times they have done so. This year the team took 2nd but many of the individuals took first.


I think the word legacy may apply here.


Turns out wrestling is pretty awesome. Awesome in that I love that it teaches such hard work, focus, practice, and determination. Once you step on the mat it is just you and the other guy. No hiding, no excuses. It is a bit hard to see your baby boy struggle at times or get pinned but I had no idea how exciting the sport was or how great it would be for my boys.


Most kids that have grown up here start about age 4, so mine were "behind" the power curve but they both learned quickly and had a lot of fun working with their friends at practice. As usual, Parker is on the taller, bigger side of most of his buddies so he mostly wrestled with junior high kids but that did not stop him from having a great time.


Spencer is pretty close in weight to most of his friends and I still see them throwing down some moves with each other now and again. Boys and wrestling just go together.


I could go on and on about how much fun they had, how hard they worked, what a great set of coaches we have, but I will simply put up some of my favorite pictures from the season and let you get a glimpse.


Coach Bradford (and a great family friend) giving Parker some encouragement during a break in the match. It may look like screaming but it is more of a pep talk than a chew out.




Spencer was SOOOOO tough on the mat. That boy has such a fierce nature lurking behind his sweet smile. The coaches were blown away by his natural talent for moving around the mat.

Nothing compares to the stare-down just before the whistle blows. Yikes, I got a shiver just looking in his eyes.

Hugs from Mom always go far, win or lose. I did that in front of his friends so he is trying to act like he is too cool but I know better.

Spencer, such an animal!

As the coaches met Parker and realized how young he is for his size they started to get a little excited. Most kids here are quite slight of build and our city has a hard time competing in the brackets with the bigger kids. Parker did so great for his first time out against kids that had been wrestling for many years.

At the end of the season Coach Bradford said that he wished he could bottle Parker's attitude. He went into each match to do his best and win or lose he was ready to go again the next round. This year Parker lost most of the matches he was in, but he kept learning, getting better, and cannot wait for next year.

Two winners.