The GIANT Center If you’ve never been to the PIAA State Wrestling Championships at the GIANT Center in Hershey, it’s hard to describe what walking in feels like. It’s loud. It’s massive. There are mats everywhere, thousands of people, and the best high school wrestlers in Pennsylvania all in the same building. My freshman walked in there wide-eyed. That’s not a knock on him — everyone walks in wide-eyed the first time. ...
I Don’t Know How to Parent a Wrestler I thought districts was an emotional day. I was wrong. Regionals was something else entirely — the kind of day that leaves you wrung out on the drive home, running the whole thing back in your head in silence. My son is going to Hershey. Let me get to that. But first, the part that nearly broke both of us. The Quarterfinals The bracket was set, and there it was. First thing in the morning, quarterfinals — my son against a good friend. A kid he trains with. A kid he knows inside and out, and who knows him just as well. ...
He Did It Last week I wrote about my son starting his first high school postseason run at 121. I also wrote about pacing behind the bleachers like a lunatic. Both things happened. The District Tournament My son went on an absolute tear through the district bracket. He wrestled with a composure that, frankly, I did not know a freshman possessed. Match after match, he looked like he belonged — because he does. ...
Sectionals Weekend This weekend marks the start of the PIAA individual wrestling postseason in Pennsylvania, and for the first time, I’ve got skin in the game — my son, a freshman wrestling at 121, is making his first high school postseason run. I am not calm about this. How the PIAA Postseason Works For the uninitiated, PA high school wrestling has one of the most grueling postseason formats in the country. It’s a multi-weekend gauntlet: ...