Winners and Losers

I was able to attend the wrestling nationals this year. I had to miss last year, but I think I have gone every other year we have had young men entered. We had seven qualifiers this year. We didn't do as well as we wished, but were able to gain a ranking of 16th in the nation when it was all over.
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Coach Diaz asked me to notice the reaction of our wrestlers compared to other teams. Wrestling is highly personal and emotional, as you can imagine. I watched other wrestlers as they lost matches throw their headgear, refuse or neglect shaking the hands of the opposing coaches, etc.

None of that from York. Although some of the losses were devastating. I witnessed our one senior, Josh Lopez, with his last chance to become an All American fall short by one match. If he had one, he would gain that status, losing meant his final chance was gone. Josh was obviously upset and demoralized. He walked off the mat like a man, where I had seen others act like boys. He left the arena to be by himself, I watched his parents follow him out, soon they returned. I saw Josh later that evening and told him he did a good job, he was cordial, but obviously the loss still stung.

While I watched other matches, I sat in front of a group of wrestlers from one of the premier programs. Their language was coarse, they made fun of other competitors (all who had qualified to wrestle in the national finals), boasted about their wins and their team (obviously justified). I was put off by their arrogance and smug feeling of superiority.

Later I saw Josh again. He apologized to me for not being more talkative after his loss. What character. In perhaps the greatest disappointment of his career, he still considered others and how his behavior might have affected them. And there was nothing wrong with his behavior. We all understood.

Sometimes when you win you are still a loser. If you lose with graciousness, character and class, you are definitely a winner. I know which I would rather be around. And I am!
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Congratulations Josh. You are a real man and you won as far as I am concerned.
Go Panthers!

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