Rev Blog Entry 3: Ross Needham, UW-La Crosse

Just when you think everything is in place and you're having a great start to your season … you're watching wrestle-offs, your leg elevated with ice on your knee. A small medial meniscus tear held me out of this weekend's wrestle-offs and will keep me off the mat for the next couple of weeks. Sitting on the sidelines for this event made me realize how high the intensity level really picks up from the practice room to the mats in front of family, friends, teammates and coaches. Our practice room is intense, but there was a new level reached this last Saturday afternoon.

Most wrestlers search the depths of their brains for some type of inspiration right before they hit the mat. This could be in the form of something one of their former coaches told them or simply something catchy they read on a T-shirt somewhere. I venture to guess that the majority of my teammates had these thoughts running through their minds during the wrestle-offs. I am guilty of this on many occasions. I have heard it said that true athletes shouldn't need quotes to motivate themselves. I would assume that someone who hasn't had much experience with the sport of wrestling said this. There are so many times that the mind and body argue about who will quit first. The ability to reference that inspirational quote from the back of your mind can be a very useful tool -- it has been for me at times. These thoughts usually remind me of the importance of one more takedown, one more sprint, or that last rep.

I have been a country music fan for years. I can remember playing air guitar on my grandpa's leg when I was just a little shaver. I am basically a fan of good music no matter what the genre. Last year, I heard a song from Green Day, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." I had to find the lyrics to this song. Although the band members don't look it, I thought it was written for a wrestler. It has numerous implications to a wrestler's life and in specific my own journey as a wrestler. Take the first verse for example:

"I walk a lonely road
The only one I that have ever known
Don't know were it goes
But its home to me and I walk alone"

All wrestlers can attest to that lonely road. It may be the road we are running down when all of our friends are sitting on the couch playing video games or that unknown road we traveled down when we first entered this sport. I can remember last year I had three teammates in particular that walked a lonely road of cutting weight. Sure, lots of guys shed some pounds, but really cutting weight is lonely time we all know too well.

Jordan Kolinski, Mike Rohowetz, and Adam Kuchnia all pulled a lot of weight each week for the team, they spent a lot of time on that road … only they weren't walking. They were running or they were on a stationary bike, but I'm sure they felt pretty alone at times.

As a son to a wrestling coach, I can truly say that this road called wrestling is the only one I have ever known. It is not any stretch of the imagination to say my first shoes had a split sole on them. It also wasn't my first steps everyone in the family was excited about -- it was my first penetration step that got the most cheers. As screwed up as it sounds, I am glad that I have been traveling down this road, even though I don't know exactly where it is leading me at times. Will the sore knees and the messed up ears be worth it in the end? You're darn right they will be.

"I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of broken dreams
Where the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk alone"

Ross Needham posted a 26-9 record last season while wrestling at 157 pounds.

Anyone who has ever stepped foot on a wrestling mat knows about broken dreams. Even as young wrestlers we were introduced to this reality of feast or famine. The losses are tough to swallow -- there is no doubt about it. But they must be used as motivation. Last year at nationals, I was the only one of eight wrestlers that qualified from my team not take the walk as an All-American. Talk about an empty street! My dreams of being an All-American came crashing down. Sure, I wrestled some very close matches that could have gone either way. (Editors Note: At the NCAA Tournament, Needham gave Augsburg undefeated three-time NCAA champion Marcus LeVesseur his closest collegiate match ever -- a 5-4 loss). But who cares how close I got to beating someone? I lost … that's all that mattered. Some people dream of goals being reached and others wake up and make them happen. When my opponents are dreaming about glory, I want to be finishing my last set on the squat rack. When my opponents are sleeping, I want to be gutting out that last sprint down the straightaway.

"My shadows the only one that walks beside me
My shallow hearts the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Till then I'll walk alone!"

I am blessed to be surrounded by the best teammates a guy could ever ask for. They can push me to no end and are always there for me in every aspect of my life. But, in the end, every wrestler has to go out there on the mat by himself. It ends being just our own shadow next to us on that lonely road. When I snap that headgear on, everything and everybody becomes a muffled background. It is my heart and lungs that I hear above everything else. The things that wrestlers do to be successful often times leave outsiders scratching their heads. There are times that you wish they understood, but in the end it is only you that needs to know why you do what you do. You truly do walk alone. I have had the support of family, friends, coaches and teammates throughout my career as a wrestler, and I thank them for that. But in the end, I must walk out on that mat alone. I will do what it takes to fulfill my goals for this season. Last March, this Boulevard ended up as a broken dream. Last March, I truly felt alone. Now I have another destination in front of me and that "boulevard of broken dreams" is not a street I plan on venturing down anytime soon.

Past UW-LaCrosse Entries:

Entry 2 (10/19/05)
Entry 1 (10/10/05)

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Rev Blog Entry 3: Ross Needham, UW-La Crosse

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