Camp Verde Wrestling has been blessed with multiple state champions every year. This year was no different with two of our wrestlers exhibiting severe asthma conditions.
Since birth, these boys have endured many health challenges. Often times their airways have become swollen and inflamed. The muscles around their airways would contract, causing their breathing tubes to narrow. On many occasions they experienced severe breathlessness or wheezing, coping with the inability to speak because of shortness of breath, and having to strain their chest muscles just to breathe. This led to many emergency trips to the hospital. Can you imagine the over whelming fear that both he and his parents endured?
Many families would have given up and quit under those circumstances. But not these young men, they have endured many obstacles in their lives, including booing from uninformed people, criticism from Mr. Garcia (AKA, AZ Wild Card), but have managed to excel despite all of life’s challenges. They have channeled all their energy into wrestling which has provided them opportunities for personal victory.
This speaks of their courage and determination. Character of this sort is hard to find. To be a great wrestler you must have the desire to be the best, a desire to dominate on the mat. You must have a burning passion, a commitment and dedication to excel through sacrifices that must be made. It takes a
high tolerance for pain. You have to be able to
put up with a lot of pain, from pushing your body to its limits.
This best describes these two boys. Most athletes are not willing to sacrifice partying/drinking and the normal life for something much more rewarding. Most athletes aren’t willing to do this because they are content with fitting in and being mediocre. These two wrestlers choose to challenge themselves and be the best that they can be.
