Jonathan Ko Ms. Rand English 1102 4 Feb. 2013 Pinned to the Mat Ko!

I quickly ran over to the call in my green and maroon wrestling singlet. I had been chosen by the coach to wrestle for this specific weight class. A few days prior, I was told that if I cut down to 127lbs then I could wrestle on the starting lineup in my schools season opener, the Green Hope Grapple, a major high school wrestling meet. More than 20 different schools from all over North Carolina would be there and these past days of wearing sweats and drinking gallons of water were about to finally pay off. Despite being nervous, I made my way to the center of the mat where I stood boldly as to intimidate my opponent. I told myself to be strong and I felt my adrenaline kick in as the hairs on my neck stood upright. I came face to face with my opponent and looked around at the

Formatted: Left

100+ spectators surrounding the mat. I made eye contact with my coach and he gave me a thumbs up. Overfilled with anticipation and adrenaline, I shook my opponents hands and quickly returned to my athletic stance I had worked on during practice. I kept a low stance with my hands close to me and quickly dove in for a double-legged takedown. I had timed it perfectly;, my opponent was caught off guard and before he knew it, he was flat on his back to the mat. Hastily, I gathered myself and sprawled on top of my opponents back as he tried to get up. Driving my shoulder into his back and wrapping my forearm around his neck ultimately drove him back down to the mat. I could hear the cheers of my teammates and my coach screaming at me to pin him down. I maneuvered quickly, sinking my arm under his neck while making my body perpendicular to his. I flexed my arms, shoulders and back, squeezing the life out of my opponent as I fought to level his shoulders to the mat. He was fighting back with all his strength, but despite his efforts, I was completely in control. Using my legs as leverage to weigh him down even more, I flexed one last time with all my

remaining energy. I felt the life being sucked out of my opponent as he helplessly squirmed around in my arms. Pin! I heard the referee smack the mat and the match was over. We both returned to our starting positions in the center of the mat and I felt my arm being into the air. Winner: Ko! I walked over to my teams corner and was congratulated for the outright win. Those long, intense hours of practice had finally paid off. I had cut enough weight to be a starter, wrestled in my first major meet, and finally won the match with a pin. I assured myself that there is no greater feeling of accomplishment than what I had just done.
Comment [MR1]: This is a great start! Its really descriptive and detailed. You describe your emotions well throughout. My main suggestion to you would be to fill in a bit of the context before the story starts. How did you become interested in this sport? Why was this match important to you? Filling in some of that context will be helpful for the reading in understanding why this win was a such a huge accomplishment, as it was for you.