Sunday, March 4, 2007

Pride goeth after the fall

I just got back from a wrestling tournament my 8 year old nephew was in. Just so you know, he is really good. He had beaten three guys straight and was tied with about 10 seconds to go in his fourth match. He and his opponent had each other in a head-lock which Chase (the nephew) used to take the other kid down. It was a great take move worth 2 points except one thing, it was and illegal move. His opponent was awarded one point as a penalty. He lost.
One caveat, the ref called it wrong, he should have stopped the match during the lock-up instead of letting it go until my nephew ended up with a penalty. Standing in the middle of the mat, he realized, he got screwed.
He shook the hand of his opponent and opposing coaches hands as he should and walked off with his first loss in a two fall tournament. It did not take much encouragement from his dad and family to get him to realize he did great.
I was proud when he got third out of 21, I was proud when he qualified for state competition but those paled in comparison to his fifth match; on the same mat, with the same ref: Chase and the other kid where on their feet near our-of-bounds and fell across the line with Chase underneath the other kid. They felt Chase should have stated down. The ref started them both up. Chase won ...by one point. The other kid came un-glued. Stomping around the mat, flailing his arms yelling "No, No. No." It was quite a scene. He shook Chases' hand like he was trying to dislocated his shoulder and slapped my brother's hand like he was trying to hurt him.
Chase lost like a gentleman in the exact same situation. I am convinced it was the influence of his uncle.

1 comment:

Chad M. Farrand said...

Wow! Way to be chase! that's impressive.