I have never been a big fan of wrestling. It always seemed like such a strange sport. (Maybe I was judging it solely by the singlets.) When Garreth and I were first married and dreaming of our future family, I was certain that all our kids would be piano players and he knew that all our boys would wrestle. In my newlywed compliance, I would agree, but secretly hoped that we could steer clear of this one sport.
Then I had three boys.
Who spend 98% of their day wrestling each other.
So when wrestling sign-ups came around, I thought, "Well, why not?" And I have to admit, it's growing on me. We signed up all three boys, but Sam had a rough night the first practice and just never came around to it, so Liam and Declan were our "wrasslers" this season. (That's what Liam's coach actually calls it. Wrassling. Remember, we live in Wyoming?)
Here's Declan at practice. Three year old wrestling is maybe the most hilarious thing I've ever seen.
After a full month of practice, it was time for their first tournament. It was exciting to see their names on the brackets.
The stance. Very intimidating.
Warming up. The dads are definitely more into this than the kids.
Out of 150 wrestlers, the only two kids in the 8 and 9 year old division 77 - 84 pound weight class were Liam... and his best friend Anthony.
Discussing strategy.
Liam is a great little wrestler: very strong and very determined. He beat Anthony the first match.
But Anthony won the second match. And the tie-breaker. Liam had a hard time losing to his BFF, but felt better when he got to stand on the second place platform and receive a medal and a T-shirt.
Declan was also very good. He is naturally tough just from having two older brothers! He loves wrestling and the huge grin never leaves his face, even when he's administering a brutal take-down. There were about six kids in his weight bracket and he placed second.
Tough guys.
