Athletics Spotlight

Wrestling

Francis Hernandez, Class of 2020

I have been wrestling for four years at Ramsey High School. I started wrestling because my friends and my cousin encouraged me to try out for the team.

Wrestling is a sport that requires mental courage and physical strength. You have to put the time in to make yourself a better wrestler. This means regularly lifting weights to develop what used to be under worked muscles for me! Prior to a match, I prepare by eating sushi, bananas and other healthy foods to maintain strength and energy . Even though I wrestle in the 160 class, I need to make sure that I maintain the correct weight to stay strong. Coach gives us Nutrigrain Bars just in case we had a long school day. I don’t care about the win/loss record of my opponent. Worrying about my opponent causes me to lose focus. My goal is to get right down to business and wrestle aggressively to take down my opponent regardless of who it is. It is important to take the hard work from practice and translate it to a well-played match.

There are many new team members and a lot of talent this year. We have at least forty athletes this year! Over the years, we’ve lost some to other activities; however, many have remained with the program. During my freshman year, wrestlers Byron Zabala, Ross Woods and Mario Ferraro were outstanding role models to me. Our goal this year is to beat our record from last season and to beat the school record. Goals are important, but for me personally, I don’t care what my record is, I care about the team and I want to make sure my position helps out the team as a whole.

Wrestling has really taught me many things. Perseverance is just one. There are times during a match when I feel like quitting. However, I will not allow that to happen! In life, there are times when quitting may seem like an option; but, quitting is just really bad and will not get you closer to your goal. Wrestlers need to dig deep within themselves to prevent an impending Pin. Yeah, I may seem like a nice, calm person, but when I am in the gold circle on the blue mat, I become a different person… Deep down I am a fighter and want the best for myself, my team and my school.