There's No Crying at Wrestling Duels...

Hello all! I have been quiet long enough and have decided to jump sides and join this crazy blogging world.

Here's a quick update on all that is me...
~I am working part time as an athletic trainer doing home game coverage for Buffalo High School. I am employed by the hospital here in Bolivar, but am contracted to work in Buffalo.
~ I am just now starting the spring semester of my second year of PT school...on the downhill side of classwork! Woot double woot!
~ Brian got a promotion at work to Senior Officer (really more like a title change b/c not much else has changed from when he was a patrol officer)
~ Been making some new friends...not an easy thing for someone like me who is set in their ways. But I have grown to love Katelynn and Sydney very much.
~ I am heading to OKC this summer to do an 8 week clinical at OU Med Center in an outpatient setting.

So now on to the topic of no crying at wrestling duels... I had worked with the wrestling team several times by this point, and I had noticed something really great about the team. One of team members is a young man named Zach who I met a couple of years back. I met Zach while working as a PT tech at CMH. Zach has cerebral palsy and is in a wheelchair. The boys wheel Zach to the end of the bench and include him in all of the team happenings such as high fives and pep talks. It's fun to watch the boys interact and value Zach.

So that brings me to last Thursday... Last week, I was working a duel between Buffalo and another school from Springfield. I was setting up my kit by the scorer's table when the Buffalo head coach came over to ask the ref if it would be alright to have an exhibition match before the duel between "The little guy in the wheelchair" and one of his other wrestlers. The ref thought that was pretty cool and let it happen. The announcer announced the exhibition just like any other match, and the head coach reffed the match so it was as legit as could be. Zach's nurse and the coach helped him walk out into the mat...he was even wearing wrestling shoes and headgear. His opponent came out and was amazing! Levi handled Zach very gently yet made the match look pretty real. Zach got points for a reversal, a near fall, back points, and eventually the pin!

The whole time I am watching this happen, I keep fighting back the tears...because there's no crying at wrestling duels...But there should be an exception when something so extraordinary happens!