The Rivals

Randy watched the match with tight anticipation. He was a strong wrestler, built like a tank that had recently packed on quite a bit of muscle in the past year. Wrestling since he was a child, he was accustomed to being the favorite.

Other wrestlers, including his teammates, would often study him, look him up and down and try to mimic his behavior. He was a champion several times over. Seasoned and proven in battle.

But now, here was Seth. He had moved here just before the season began from some town that didn't matter. He had enrolled at the rival high school and immediately walked onto the varsity squad.

Nearly every dual meet had revolved around Randy's performance. Everyone was afraid of him and everyone knew what to expect: a quick and decisive victory.

Seth was one weight class below Randy but the season had only begun. Randy knew he eventually would drop to the weight class below. As he stood there watching Seth, Randy studied his physique.

Seth was long and lanky, but still solid. Seth was unlikely to drop a weight class this season which made a clash between Randy and Seth inevitable.

Seth was wrestling against Randy's teammate, John. A competent wrestler but with more guts than skill, Randy found John to be a reliable training partner. John would beat anyone that had weaknesses in their game. Only the truly elite would get past John. He was a great measuring stick.

It only took a few moments for Seth to grab John's legs and lift him in the air. Slams were illegal in high school wrestling so the more advanced athletes found a different way of showing off: going even slower.

Seth had complete control of John's body. He kept the legs tied up but reached his right hand around John's head while he still had him in the air. Carefully, slowly and insultingly gently, Seth lowered John right onto his back.

Immediately John asked himself, could I do that? Of course he could. He didn't do it to John because they were partners and teammates. There would be no reason to. Still, he and John often had strong battles in the practice room. Randy held back. Do I hold back too much... or can this guy do things that I can't? Randy asked himself.

By the time Randy snapped himself out of his thoughts, John was already back on the bench, fuming. John had not wrestled since his youth. He was playing catch up in a sport where that was impossible. The years on the mat knowing how to move your body were not something you could take a shortcut for.

Randy admitted to himself: John had been dominated by an elite wrestler. There was no doubt about it.

Suddenly his team was huddled around him and it was his turn to perform. It went as expected: quick and decisive. As Randy went to shake the opposing coach's hand, he took a glance at Seth.

Seth's back was turned, chatting with a teammate behind the bench. He did not see Randy. He did not care. A mistake? Perhaps. Randy knew that whatever happened between them, Seth would know who Randy was when it was over.

The day finally arrived. It was the League Championship of the region. Despite being local rivals, the two schools often avoided each other until the final leg of the season where the matches counted the most. In this case, the eight man bracket had to be seeded to separate the strongest competitors, ensuring a better finale.

Randy was not privy to these conversations. He waited for his coach to come tell him what he always told him: Randy had been seeded first. Only this time that didn’t happen. Randy’s coach walked over to him as Randy was tying the laces of his wrestling shoes in the crowded high school gym. 

“You got seeded second,” the coach said. 

“Second?” Randy stammered. “How?”

The coach lightly shrugged. “They gave first seed to Seth Williams from Westlake. He placed at some notable tournaments. Out of state. Against some ranked guys.”

“Ranked guys?” Randy said.

The coach put his meaty hand on Randy’s shoulder.

“It doesn’t matter, kid. Either way, you just need to wrestle. He doesn’t know you. You haven’t lost anything yet so wipe that look off of your face,” he said. 

Randy closed his mouth. He turned back to his shoes. It wasn’t fair. Randy’s coach never took them out of state for competitions. How was Randy supposed to get a chance at the toughest opponents? How was he supposed to prove he was as good as Seth? It might’ve been what Randy always feared. 

He was a big fish in a little pond. Nearly all of his competitions had been local. Just because he could beat everyone in their middle-of-nowhere town didn’t mean he was good. It was devastating. The whole season had been about making the best performances possible. There were times where Randy had even forgotten about Seth. Still, Randy always tried to beat everyone in front of him as best as he could. Now, it seemed that wasn’t enough. Should he have stayed at the higher weight class? Was there anything he could have done differently? Now? No. It’s too late. There was nothing to be done. Randy would face the seventh seed first. When, or if, he won, he would meet the third seed. Once that was over with, he’d be in the finals against Seth, presumably. 

It went very much like that. As their bracket went on at the same time, Randy did not get much of a chance to study Seth. He was aware of Seth’s victories and before they knew it, it was time for the finals of the tournament. 

Randy stood up straight as his name was called. He stepped out onto the mat and walked towards the circle. Seth appeared at some point, along with the ref. Everything was simply a distraction to him now. Even as Seth stepped on his mark in front of him, Randy couldn’t even see his face. It was just a blurry shape. Randy didn’t need to see his face. He didn’t need to see anything as a matter of fact. What would happen next would be all on instinct. 

The match started off rigidly with both boys fighting for wrist control and measuring each other’s strength. Randy could feel that Seth was strong. Randy felt a pang of insecurity in the pit of his stomach. Randy’s mind immediately bounced back. If he’s so strong, then let’s see him dominate me, Randy thought to himself. He grabbed Seth’s wrist and worked for a strong grip on Seth’s arm. Seth struggled a bit and took a considerable amount of time to get away. Randy acknowledged this as a sign that he could stand with Seth… after all, he had already survived much longer than John. 

The two locked horns, vying for better head positioning in each other’s necks. Randy and Seth fought to get the interior grip on each other’s shoulders. Seth snapped Randy’s head down hard. Randy barely budged and he did it right back. Seth took a big step forward to stop himself from falling forward. 

Randy immediately clued himself in: you must shoot now! He knew that Seth would take him down based on what happened to John. Randy had to be first. He knew that from many rounds with many opponents for many years—

Seth took a shot and wrapped his arms around Randy’s legs. Randy had been too late. He pushed Seth’s head down but Seth’s arms were too long. He could hear the crowd roar in Seth’s favor. Randy tried to sprawl his legs away but Seth pulled in one last time and Randy’s legs came forward. His hips hit the mat. The referee immediately awarded two points for a takedown. 

Before anyone could breathe, Randy was already back up on his feet and had escaped. The referee awarded one point for an escape. 

Seth stood back up to his stance. Now, Randy could see his face. The fog of war had been lifted. Seth had struck first and Randy immediately proved he would be difficult to deal with. The mystery was gone. They could see each other for what they were. 

Seth was frustrated. Randy recognized the look. Seth expected to win by dominating his opponents. The fact that Randy got out was a slap in the face. Not only that, but Randy knew the momentum was in his favor. 

Before Seth could start to work for another takedown, Randy took his own shot. With his stocky build, Randy’s double-leg takedowns were ferocious. He lifted Seth’s hips and legs well off the ground before landing in an immediate takedown. The referee awarded two points. The crowd went wild.

Seth had landed on his hip and was struggling to turn over to his stomach. Randy knew he would have trouble keeping Seth down because of the length difference. Fortunately he didn’t have to do it for long because the buzzer went off. End of the first period. 3-2: Randy.

The referee flipped a coin and awarded Seth first choice. Seth chose to go on bottom. Seth’s coaches were yelling.

“You need to get at least one!”

Randy could sense that Seth was going to try to stand up and escape immediately. As soon as the referee blew the whistle Seth’s hips exploded out of the position and Randy immediately lost control. One point to Seth for an escape. 

Randy was in a dangerous position now. The score was tied. They had both taken each other down once. Whoever would get the next one would likely indicate the winner. 

There were multiple attempts from both wrestlers. At one point, Seth clubbed Randy’s head which made Randy look down and break his stance. Seth swept to the side to grab Randy’s ankle and Randy recognized the attack and tried to flee. Seth held on to Randy’s foot while Randy made his best attempt at getting near the edge of the circle. Seth raised Randy’s foot in the air and Randy finally fell, nearly entirely out of bounds but inside the circle just enough for the takedown to count. The buzzer blew. End of the second period. 

Randy only had a few seconds to catch his breath. It was his choice. He was down by two points. Randy looked at his coach. 

“You have to go down,” his coach said, pointing downward with his finger. He was telling Randy to try to get an escape for one point and then another takedown for two, totaling three points. It was the right call. 

Randy indicated his choice of bottom to the referee and took his spot. As the referee blew the whistle, Seth stifled Randy’s first attempt to stand. Then Seth jumped onto Randy’s back and hooked his legs. This was a common tactic for lanky wrestlers, especially when they were up on points. It was a good way to stall the match out. The top wrestler would pretend to work for a pinning combination while in reality, they would do their best to tie up the bottom wrestler and run out the clock. The bottom wrestler would have no choice but to struggle and fight back which meant the referee wouldn’t give a stalling penalty to the top wrestler. 

This turned out to be exactly what Seth intended to do. Randy didn’t respect it. While Seth dug his legs deep and cranked on Randy’s shoulder, Randy contemplated Seth’s strategy. He was trying to hang on to his lead. Seth was no longer trying to improve his position. He was holding on for dear life. He feared Randy. 

Randy sensed that Seth had fallen too high onto his back. Seth’s head dangled in front of Randy. Randy reached for Seth’s head with both hands. He managed to clasp both and he pulled Seth’s head down from off of his back. Seth planted both hands on the mat and tried to stay on Randy’s back. Randy lifted his hips, and in doing so, made Seth fall in front even more. 

Randy felt the tide turn as Seth went from trying to keep his position to a full blown panic as his back began to get exposed to the mat. The crowd suddenly started roaring. 

The referee began to count points for back exposure. Randy dug his toes into the mat and drove forward, folding Seth in half. Seth scrambled and released his legs, flopping all the way over onto his back.

Randy suddenly dreamed of pinning his opponent. He lurched forward, squeezing with his hands but also planting his chest firmly on Seth’s. The buzzer blew.

Both wrestlers sat up and stared at the ref. He indicated a two points reversal for Randy and then another two points for back exposure for Randy. 

Both wrestlers stood in the center of the circle with the referee between them. Randy’s hand was raised. This win wasn’t the same as the others. He had won 7-5. It was one of the closest matches he had ever been a part of. 

Some piece of him felt like it was a fluke. If he hadn’t been able to get those last few points, it would have been tied and they would have gone into overtime which was determined by the first takedown. Given that he went down twice, he likely would have lost that. 

Randy did feel some joy as others congratulated him. He did notice Seth sitting against the wall in the corner, speaking to his teammate. At one point, someone who may have been his mother came over to comfort him. 

Randy was getting ready to leave and taking off his shoes when a familiar pair of shoes appeared in front of him. Randy looked up to see Seth, with his coach and his parents standing nearby. 

“Hey man,” Seth said, extending his hand, “I just wanted to say congratulations.” Any pretense of unfamiliarity was gone. Randy knew right away that Seth knew him very well, both before and after the match.

“Thanks,” Randy said. “That was a tough one.”

Seth smirked. “Well, everyone said you were good. I remember back at the dual when you steamrolled my teammate. My coach said I might run into later in the season. I couldn’t believe they gave me the first seed.”

Randy was stunned. Seth sounded like he was afraid of Randy.

Randy returned the warmth. “Well I think you definitely deserved it based on those takedowns.”

“Yeah but you got me too.”

“Yeah just the one time though. You might've got me in overtime.”

“That reversal at the end was wild. I was holding on for my life! You’re really strong, man.”

As they bonded over their match, Randy realized that so many of his thoughts and concerns hadn’t mattered in the end. Everyone had different strengths and differences. Everyone felt scared. The truth was, when you’re both good, it’s just about wrestling. And most of all, it’s meant to be fun.