Page 13 of Another Love, Another Time
River: My mom said your parents are coming to my first tournament since it’s up by your house. Are you coming too?
Auggie: You know I’m there.
River: You know I miss you too. I hope to see you there. I’m exhausted. I’m going to hit the hay.
Auggie: Night.
River: Night. Talk tomorrow.
~~
Today is my first tournament. I have been practicing with the team three nights a week for the last month and a half. The tournament is near Aunt Connie and Uncle Eddie’s place. They don’t have anything going on this weekend, so they will be there to watch me. Auggie wants to see my first match. I hope I don’t suck too badly in front of him. He will never let me live it down.
I already had to weigh in this morning. I weighed in at 80 pounds, which still allows me to wrestle in the 82-pound weight class. I sit by my coach to look at the brackets, which will tell me who I will be wrestling.
My match isn’t for another hour, so I have time to hang out with my family. I look around the bleachers to see where my family is sitting and to see if Auggie has arrived yet. As I’m scanning the crowd, someone comes up behind me and grabs me. I screech and quickly turn around to see a grinning Auggie. “You lookin’ for me?”
I quickly jump into his arms, and he catches me as I give him a big hug. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m so nervous.”
“Riv, you’re going to kick butt.”
“Yeah, I hope you’re right.” I look around. “Where are our parents?”
“They grabbed something to eat at the concession stand. They said you might get you something since you didn’t eat before you weighed in.”
“Let’s go find them. I’m starving.”
~~
I’m up next. I’ve never seen the kid I’m wrestling at any of my brothers’ tournaments. He gets the green band, and I get the red band for the referee to communicate points scored. I kneel to wrap the band around my ankle.
I take a deep breath to calm my nerves, stand up, go to the middle of the mat, and get in my stance with bent knees and my hands ready to take him down. I look my opponent in the eye. As the referee blows the whistle, we start to circle around the mat. Both of us try to go for a single-leg takedown but fail. The second time I try for a takedown, my opponent catches me by the neck, pulls me down to the mat, and quickly gets behind me. My opponent tries to put me in a half nelson to get me into a pin position. I try to get up to my knees and into a bottom position so I can either stand up or reverse our places. Instead, my opponent pushes my face into the mat. Pretty soon, the referee calls a stalemate.
When I get up, I feel something drip from my nose. I must have gotten a bloody nose when my opponent was pushing my face into the mat. My coach pulls me off the mat and starts to wipe my face. Meanwhile, he coaches me for the next round. I look over at my opponent and see him watching me. I hear his coach tell him, “Don’t worry. She’s just a girl.”
“Oh, heck no.” I think. “I’ll show him ‘just a girl.’”
I turn back to my coach to listen to the rest of his directions. Once my blood has been cleaned off the mat, the ref calls us back to the middle of the mat. For the second round, the ref flips the red and green chip. It lands on red, so I get to decide if I am going to be on top or bottom. I look at my coach, and he makes the “down” motion. I make the same motion and get in the bottom position while my opponent gets in the top position. Waiting for the whistle, I take a deep breath and prepare to make my opponent’s coach eat his words.
The whistle is blown, and I catch my opponent off guard by being quick on the whistle. I use my elbow to push his arm off me. Then, I escape, and without hesitation, I go right for the single-leg takedown. He is on his stomach and trying to push up, but I’m on him. I wrap my leg around his and try to get his legs to straighten out so that he is lying on his stomach again.
Eventually, I get him on his stomach again, and I quickly move into a half-nelson position and flip him over on his back. I’m worn out, but there is no way I’m letting him up. I’m showing him I'm just a girl.
Before I know it, the referee announces I have pinned my opponent. I stand up and try to shake his hand, but he just walks off the mat. I smile while the referee raises my hand.
“‘Just a girl,’ my butt.”
~~
I end up getting second in the tournament for my weight class. I got the one pin, lost my second match without getting pinned, and in the third match, I won by a point. My brother got first place. I’m proud of him. He’s the one who helped me get ready for today.
We are back at the hotel, playing in the pool and waiting for pizza. Aunt Connie and Uncle Eddie decided to stay the night with us. Auggie and I are hanging out in the jacuzzi.
Auggie splashes me. “You kicked butt today, Riv.”
“I know I did.” I grin back.
“When that boy was pushing your head into the mat, and then when you got up, and you had blood running down your face, I almost went down there and wrestled him myself.” Auggie weighs twenty pounds more than me, so he definitely could have beaten him.
