In my 16 years of wrestling I had a first this past weekend.
It was the first time that I have ever wrestled someone with the same name as
me. We wrestled Colorado State Pueblo University and the wrestler at my weight
was named Keenen (it is a slightly different spelling but pronunciation is the
same). It was our first home dual of the season and we won. Home duals are, in
my opinion, the best; you get to workout in your own wrestling room, sleep in
your own bed, and you get to go home right after the dual and have some of Momma's
homemade chili (my Mom makes the best chili on the face of the planet). My Mom
is my personal dietician and I have no doubt in my mind that I would never be
able to maintain wrestling weight without her, but she also knows how to treat
a hungry wrestler after a match, and for a few of my teammates and I on
Saturday night that was homemade chili (with a secret ingredient that you would
never guess in a million years) and apple streusel bread! I'd better not get
started on my Mom's cooking or we could be here for a while; I could probably
do an entire entry on her homemade protein bars, but that is for another day.
The point is that there is nothing quite like enjoying a homemade meal with family
and friends after a match.
Both my Mom and Dad got to come to the dual, which was pretty cool because my Dad (coaches at the high-school I attended) got done with his tournament fairly early in Lincoln and zipped up to Kearney with my Mom to watch the dual. My cousin Drew who also wrestles for UNK made it back from his tournament in Omaha, which he wrestled in earlier that day, and one of my Dad's former wrestlers Shorty (he is not really that short, but he is stout, we should call him Stouty) and his wife came up from Kansas. On top of that gang I live in a house, The Casa De Choir Boy house to be specific, with 3 of my teammates (Joe, D, and DE holla!), so needless to say it was a pretty fun filled chili feast!
I know what I love the most about the sport of wrestling and that is the people. Wrestling for some reason or another (I have a few theories as to what some of those reason's are) seems to bind people together very tightly. Hanging out with Shorty this Saturday night, it was as if my Dad and him have hung out every night since Shorty graduated high-school, but they have only gotten to see each other maybe a few times a year for the past 20 years. However there was a special bond that was formed through the sport of wrestling that will keep Shorty and my Dad close the rest of their lives regardless of how much they get to see each other. It is like Dane said in his comment on my last post, even though he doesn't get to see Shorty very often anymore he would still consider him one of his best friends in the world. I can't believe that my time at UNK is almost up, but I know that I have developed friendships over the past five years that will last forever. When I think about all of my awesome friends, it sometimes makes me wonder about other teams and if other wrestlers develop friendships like I have. Often times it seems like we don't recognize our opponents as real people, but rather just the guy on the other side of the mat. Wrestling a guy with the same name as me got me thinking; even though we are competing against each other and have never met, we share a bond through wrestling. Each wrestler knows the struggle that other wrestlers have to go through (I guess this is one of my theories from earlier) and perhaps that is what makes us so close. Whatever the case may be that is what I think makes wrestling great, the relationships. It is kind of like what Lord Elrond Halfhaven says in The Fellowship of the Ring, "You at least shall go with him. It is hardly possible to seperate you from him, even when he is summoned to secret council and you are not."Until Next Time,
--You can take my keys, but you can't take my freedom!-- That's for you Jrut.
Keenan
Give me 3 guesses and I bet I can come up with that secret ingredent! Keenen I love you r insight on the sport of wrestling. thanks.
Lets kick some tail this weekend!! GO LOPERS.
Hi Keenan,
Nice job on the blog. Justin and I ran across it looking for the date of the RMAC
tournament. Unfortunately, the RMAC is the same weekend as our state tournament. I missed the FHSU open becuse we host a tournament on that day too.
I have a pretty good idea where your writing bug may have come from. (it was confirmed for me when you used a quote from the Fellowship of the Ring). On a related note - once you are under the McCurdy family umbrella you are there for life.
Keep up the good work. Tell your folks hello.
--KH
--KH