Some people are driven to be the best they can be. Some fill that void with sports.
Wrestling is a sport that many kids love and see as one of the best things in their lives. The individual drive and the support from the team is unmatchable.
“I have had some great moments with wrestling and some incredible upsets. I would not change a thing about it though. I love the emotion, I love the experience and I love my personal growth as well as watching my team grow as individuals and coming together as a group,” senior captain Justin Anderson said.
Varsity wrestling coach Zac Enoch refers that nothing can compare to wrestling and that everyone should try coming out for the sport.
“The toughest things we do in life help make us the individuals we are. The toughness of wrestling helps mold young athletes into tougher, more confident and self-reliant, personally responsible individuals,” Enoch said.
The time for wrestling has begun and the season has already started, but that should not discourage young athletes interested in the sport to come out and watch the matches and then eventually come out for the sport next year. So far in league, the team is 1-0 after defeating Barlow on Thursday, Jan. 10.
Enoch states that he really admires his seniors that he has now.
“These young men are the type of young people I want my kids to be like,” Enoch said.
While Enoch shares kind words about his athletes, these seniors return the gesture by expressing how they really look up to him.
“Enoch inspires me by making it clear that it’s not about me or the team. It is about doing what is right and finding ways to overcome adversity,” Anderson said.
Another teammate, senior Tyler Jordan agrees with this about Enoch.
“There is a large coaching staff, but coach Enoch is a great head coach and his lifestyle as a coach makes us feel like we can do anything,” Jordan said.
Although the seniors will not be here next year, the great coaching staff will be.
Anderson, however, as a senior is someone that his teammates look up to now.
“He is an example of how wrestling can really shape you. He’s become what a great wrestler looks like. Others will be amazed by his work ethic and his ability to bring his teammates up as well,” Jordan said.
Just as Jordan was inspired by Anderson’s admirable qualities, it was Anderson who was first influenced.
“Jake Roberts was someone I looked up to since I was a kid. After he left, the desire to fill his shoes and become the kind of leader he was motivated me. I wanted that respect, fear and success he laid the path for,” Anderson said.
The legacy that the past generations hold for the incoming wrestlers is something Gresham wrestling is proud of.
“Wrestling is the avenue that caused me to build tighter relationships by both family and friends. It taught me about perseverance, dedication, pain and, with God’s help, the true capacity of the human will to survive and persevere; it is the reason I got a college degree, it is the reason I am a teacher and a coach,” Enoch said.
Others agree that wrestling can be considered the greatest sport.
“Go out for wrestling because it is the ultimate sport. It is team, individual, a brotherhood and personal. Wrestling is an emotional sport, and it builds more character and life skills than any other sport,” Anderson said.
Teammates senior Gage Hernandez and Jordan also agree that in the end wrestling will teach dedication and makes a person stronger in everything they do.
Anybody can wrestle. The team is extremely close and the adventure of the sport will forever stick. Go watch this season’s wrestlers, and maybe the inspiration will lead to tryouts for next year and the following generations.
