Hyper Extended final

John Britt
Hyper Extended

Disappointments are outcomes that don’t live up to our expectations. They are often caused by events that are out of our control. The reality is that we don’t always get what we hope for. These experiences help us grow and make us stronger. Twisting my ankle turned into that experience for me. I completely set my mind on wrestling prior to the start of the season. I began to lift at the gym, go for runs, and change my diet for the first time in my life. I removed the several snack foods from my kitchen, and what I ate became something that I thought about on a day to day basis. When ordering food I thought about what might be best nutrition for me instead of just the best tasting. As time passed I could see small changes in myself. All of this only got me even more excited for the upcoming season even if it was just a couple of pounds I lost on the scale. So when I hyper extended my ankle it hurt more than just my foot.
The day that I twisted my ankle was pretty ordinary, and I was not expecting a lot to happen. It was fairly normal day, I had a little bit of breakfast and rushed to get to school. I was tired with a slight headache, and went through a normal day of classes. When it was time for practice I had my usual troubles with some of the drills since I was relatively new to the sport. My head felt as light as a balloon as went through the warm-up. I knew the rest of practice was going to be rough. I pushed through the excises and drills as best I could and didn’t complain. I was glad that I had the opportunity to wrestle. As the practice dragged on I grew more and more tired. My body was burning like the red hot embers on the bottom of a fire . When I had to pick an opponent to wrestle I ended up with Nate who had about 25 pounds on me and a couple of inches. Its not like I hadn’t wrestled bigger guys but trying to do so tired and dehydrated isn’t fun. He must have been feeling tired to since it wasn’t a very skilled or quick match. I don’t remember exactly how it happened except that he was on top and somehow sat on my ankle with my toes still planted in the ground. I immediately regretted not pulling my foot out sooner. The pain shot through my foot, and a nauseous feeling grew in my stomach. I then hopped to the sideline and worried that it was over. I remember sitting and waiting for practice to finish and hoping that it wasn’t to serious.
When I went to the Doctors office on that dark and muggy day I sat and waited anxiously to find out if I would be able to wrestle again, though knowing I probably wouldn’t be able to. He came and confirmed that I wouldn’t be able to wrestle. My hopes for the season were over. No one could change that I wouldn’t be able to contribute competition wise. It was disappointing that I wasn’t wrestling but I learned that I had to move on, and trust that it would heal in time for volleyball.