Tension so thin you could cut it with a single snip from a pair of scissors. The team sat anxiously in the locker room of SHS, our biggest rivals, waiting for the time to come, the time to hit the mats for the first time this year. The coach paced in with his inspiring speech at the tip of his tongue, ready to get us fired up for our first wrestling match of the season. He reminisced how we had something to prove coming in as apposing regional champions. We had to show them we were not a joke and were striving for even more this year. Summing up his speech he told us to give it our all and leave everything out on the mat. With this we knew it was time. Coach led us out the doors to the gym. “Crunch time”, the coach said, and it all began. Quickly, we gained a lead with our elite lower weight wrestlers. By time the line up got to my weight class, 152 lbs, the score was about even. As I warmed up, so many feelings and thoughts ran through my head. Finally it was my time. “Shake hands”, said the referee. We did so and the whistle blew. Right off the back I noticed my opponent was fast and swift on his feet. He danced around the mat trying to set up a takedown. Bam! Just like that he shot a double leg and took me down for 2 points. I struggle, but worked my way back up to escape for 1 point. The rest of the 3 minute period went on without any points being scored. The score was now 2 to 1, him. Just like that I’m back in action in period 2. I picked optional start and gave him 1 point for escape. As soon as he stood up I scored a takedown on a low single giving me 2 more points. My opponent worked his way back up for an escape of 1 point. A little action on our feet lead to him getting a head lock and taking me down for another 2 points. That led to the end of the 2nd period. My opponent was out on top with a lead 6 to 3. Top was his choice to start off period 3. After a little ground game, we both ended up getting a reversal for 2 points. I was loosing 8 to 5 with only 45 seconds to go. It all came down to these last few seconds. These are the times I trained so hard for. These are the times I sweated and gave so much blood for. This was my time. I gave it my all, looking for any chance to get a pin. One wrong move of my opponent enabled me to slip him into a cradle. Stuck! The referee counted off three and it was all over. I had won my match with a pin. The crowed roared and my team cheered. It was a long tough battle but I pulled through. I never gave up. With the help of my pin, we went on to win the meet by 2 points. Excitement, glory and joy ran through or bodies. We showed that we were a threat and could run with any team. It was a great start to a great season.