Wrestling vs. St. X

 Wednesday evening Team Jeff Wrestling had a home meet against St. X.  The evening prior Team Jeff had a really good practice.  The coach pictured above spent the entire hour of practice instructing Gabriel.  That one-on-one instruction was a huge help for him.

 The kids practiced a few drills prior to the meet.

 This is Gabriel wrestling the St. X kiddo.  I was proud of him for not ending up immediately on his back, pinned.

 He gave it a good fight.

But the St. X wrestler had a little more skill than Gabriel.

Before the meet Coach Kip came over to talk to Gabriel.  He told Gabriel that his first year wrestling, he never won a match.  He even laughed at himself and said, "I was even beat by a girl!"  He said that despite a bad first year, he WANTED to win so he kept working at it.  Beginning his second year, he started to win and continued to improve.  I think this anecdote helped boost Gabriel's confidence.  We've told him all along that it's not a matter of who wins the match; we just want him to give his best effort and not give up.  We're proud of him for sticking with it and working hard.