Physical Punishment

I previously discussed more of the mental side of wrestling. Now I want to get into a little more detail about the physical side. By physical, I am talking about injuries. I am currently in my 7^th year of wrestling and have already racked up an impressive amount of injuries. I broke my shoulder during my freshman year of high school. I had to get 5 staples in the back of my head after my opponent’s tooth busted it open by sprawling on top of it. I bruised my kidney and was peeing blood for a couple days. I separated my acromioclavicular joint (also called the AC joint). I have cauliflower ear, which is actually a pretty painful process. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve gotten bursitis in my knees or pulled a muscle somewhere on my body. Probably the worst injury I have ever developed would have to be a concussion I received during my sophomore year of college. I got it after the first practice of the season. I ended up missing the entire season, and it got so severe that I had to withdrawal from classes for the semester. I couldn’t physically make it through a single class, and I would just lie in my bed for days a time. This continued for about three months. I found out that not only did I receive a concussion, but I also damaged my inner ear which was just compounding onto the already agonizing effects of a concussion. There is no such thing as being completely healthy during the wrestling season. Everybody is banged up, some more severe than the others. At the very least you are feeling the aches and pains that come with the brutality of a wrestling practice. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of taking care of your body during the season. You should always go see your athletic trainer after every practice to at least get ice for the sore parts of your body or to receive any other treatments you may need. If this is not done, it does not take a very long time for the injuries to start piling up. Before you know it, you are too injured to anything else other than ride the bike during practice. Perhaps the greatest attribute of a wrestler is that they have to be mentally and physically tough. There will come a time where every wrestler feels physically broken down during the grind of the season, and it is at this point where the great wrestlers separate themselves from the good wrestlers by finding a way to push through.