Highland Hills Folkstyle Classic

 Yesterday Gabriel participated in a wrestling meet at Highland Hills.  There were about nine wrestling teams participating.  He wrestled in the 13th match in the Bantam class . . . yeah, I know what all that means now.

 This kiddo from Floyd Central was a pretty fierce competitor.

 He and Gabe were pretty evenly matched in weight and in skill.  His opponent was just a little faster and more aggressive.

 Gabe kept fighting though.  He did not give up.

 They wrestled for the entire three minutes.  I was really proud of him for his perseverance.

 Here is what I hate about being a wrestling mom:
The coaches are on one side of the mat and the parents are on the other.  Essentially, you sit on the edge of the mat next to your child's opponents parents.  Wrestling parents are ruthless; they are out for blood.  So I'm sitting next to people who are yelling, "Get him!  Face to the mat!  Make him eat mat!"  And the him they are referring to is MY KID!  It is SO HARD for me to listen to that and not say anything in his defense.  This time the opponents parents actually laughed and said, "Look at him --- he's just laying there."  That was SO NOT TRUE!  Part of me wanted to punch these a@#h$%^ parents, and part of me wanted to go hug my boy and cover his ears.

 I just can't imagine encouraging Gabriel to make a kid "eat mat" or laughing out loud at kid who is trying so hard.  It's one thing to encourage your kid and coach them, but let's not wish pain or injury on anyone.  And I know . . . "eat mat" is just an expression used in wrestling.  It's not intended to be about pain or injury, but it seems a little harsh to me still.

Gabriel lost both of his matches.  He was pinned in the second match.  That makes me sad for him.  But on the other hand, we got to leave the meet and enjoy the rest of our Sunday by about noon.