The story “The One Legged Wrestler Who Conquered his Sport then Left it all behind” by David Merrill is about a young man and his wrestling career in high school and his time at Arizona State University. Anthony Robles was faced with many distinctive and difficult challenges as he was born with the horrendous fact of missing a crucial part of the human body, his right leg. Many believe a person born with this disability can’t have an athletic career, but Anthony found wrestling. When he began wrestling he didn’t draw anything but laughter from the audience, but as his talent grew, this changed. As he dominated the high school level of competition in his junior and senior years with an astonishing record of 96-0, he was declined from his top choice schools which were Iowa, Oklahoma State, and Columbia because they didn’t believe he would be a success at the National Collegiate Athletic Association level. They believed he was “too small” to win at that high level of wrestling. Years later he managed to walk away with his first NCAA title going 36-0 his senior year of college with an overall college record of 121-20. As he walked away a …show more content…
He was too low for any other wrestler to compete with. When his competitor would have to drop down to his level it would put tremendous strain on his body as he was not used to being that low and this forced his body to stretch and cause strain on his muscles. The time it would take for Robles to drop down to the floor compared to the time it would take his competitor was remarkable. Because of his stance and his form, he had to wrestle so low. If a quarter was dropped from two feet, compared being dropped from eight feet, obviously the quarter that was dropped from the lowest point would win the race every time. With Anthony Robles’ stance being so unique to the sport and to all who had to come across him, his techniques and stance made it seem as if he were impossible to
Tommy Clement “Tommy” Douglas was born in Falkirk, Scotland on the 20 ͭ ͪ of October, 1904. In 1910, Tommy Douglas immigrated to Canada with his family. Shortly before he left Scotland, he fell and subsequently contracted osteomyelitis, a type of bone infection. His family was too poor to afford the expensive operations that he had to undergo to cure his leg. Miraculously, the doctor that the Douglas family hired offered to operate on him for free as long as they would allow the doctor’s students to observe the operation. The Douglas family accepted the offer. The doctor performed a series of operations that would save his leg, but an unfortunate side effect might make it so that he would never bend his leg again. To great surprise, Tommy was able to bend the leg right after the operation with the cry of, “I can bend my leg!” That leg served him well for 30 years to come. Nine years later, Tommy started an amateur career in boxing. Three years later, at the age of 18, Tommy fought his way to the title of “Lightweight Champion of Manitoba.” He managed to defend his title for one more year, 1923. This also helped him finance his future college or university education.
In the words of Shane, “Patt, who was a year younger than me and would eventually grow up to be one of my closest friends.” Patt spends most of his time with Shane playing video games, chatting, and playing basketball. They are having fun together despite Shane’s disability. Once upon a time, Patt and Shane’s brother attached a rope to Shane’s wheelchair. They threaded the rope through a basketball hoop and tied the other end of the rope to Shane’s brother. Then Shane and Patt started to pull the rope, so that Shane’s brother could do a slam dunk. Unfortunately, this did not work. They broke the chair, and Shane’s dad had to pay $4,000 for a pair of new
While reading the articles I found a connection in the poems Contest, The Jump Shooter, Day and Night Handball. All three of these poems followed a theme about growing old and gaining more wisdom about a sport. The message of these poems is that aging doesn’t change your ability to play a sport, because even though you may not be as strong, or as fast you still have more experience. These authors portray this theme through imagery. The poem Contest creates an image of younger athletes circling around her but she is still able to keep up with them because she has experience from previous years. In the Jump Shooter Dennis Trudell split up the lines of the poem differently because sentences are split into a few lines. It makes the poem feel more
This inner strength helps her learn to live life as a paraplegic; as well as, the courage to become a wheelchair racer. The author’s competitive spirit and enthusiasm for life continues as her misfortune turns into opportunity, and finally emerges as an Ironman triathlete. Coupled with her perseverance, Downing transitions from an able-bodied cyclist to an athlete with a disability. Equipped with the true meaning of the words challenge and change, the author becomes the first female paraplegic to compete in an Ironman triathlon. In fact, to overcome her disability, Downing uses the strength, courage and determination learned as an
Have you ever watched an Olympic athlete that has a physical disadvantage to the other athletes? In this day in history it is common to see people like this because these people have become determined to set aside their disadvantages in order to compete on the international stage and to motivate others. This is exactly what Olympic archer Brady Ellison has done in his lifetime. Diagnosed with Perthes Disease at a young age, Brady had to wear leg braces for more than one year of his young life but that did not stop his archery career. Brady received his first compound bow at the age of seven and his battle with the disease did not slow him down when he shot his first black bear at the age of eleven. Through his battle with perthes disease, Brady Ellison has
An immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Ramon Robles is a middle aged male, who first came to the United States at the age of 24. He lived in New York City for ten years and then moved to St. Louis. Facing many hardships throughout his life Ramon endured the countless challenges placed before him during his lifetime.
He was born too late to battle in the war against Olympus, and therefore finds himself unchained here in Hell. While his arrogance may not be quite as obvious, the answer can be found once again in Greek mythology. Antaeus famously wrestled any passerby, easily defeating them and keeping their skulls as trophies. His boastfulness when it came to being unstoppable is where his pride comes into play. He is proud of himself for having never lost a wrestling match, however this is in part due to his immense size compared to most men, but also due to the fact that he draws his strength from Gaia, his mother, and also the Earth itself. As long as Antaeus remained in contact with the ground, he was unconquerable. Therefore he had an unfair advantage over anybody who dared to take him on, lessening the scope of his achievement. Although Antaeus did not challenge the gods or any type of community, he exhibits a damning version of pride that is entirely
I started wrestling when I was eight years old and since then it has taken me all over the world. I had the opportunity to compete in Beijing, China. I learned that the Chinese team was only able to continue their education for a brighter future thanks to the sport of wrestling. Thanks to my involvement in wrestling, I was able to attend and graduate from Penn State University.
In the poem, “Ex – Basketball Player” by john Updike, (which is a narrative poem) illustrates the nature of life on how life is potentially is seen has a mirror to other people’s life, especially people who play sports. Life is the physical and mental experience of an individual. An in the poem the main character Flick, supply the poem with a good example of how life is potentially a mirror for other people. This poem is formally organized, even though it locks some qualities, it still haves the qualifications of a good poem. The “Ex Basket Player” is an interested poem because it has a good theme, tone and lots of figurative languages.
In the story My Left Foot, Christy Brown was diagnosed at the age of three with cerebral palsy. Many people began to give up on him, but his mother did not. She told everyone that they were all wrong and that he was a normal child. She worked with Christy every chance she could get and tried to teach him how to write and read. One day, his mother’s perseverance finally paid off.
In the short story Cradle Hold Harry, Dukes father, notices that Duke has some feminine tendencies and was small for his age. He didn’t like this. He tried to get him to do more manly things. Eventually, after a couple of tries to get his son to become a man, Duke got a girlfriend, Hillary, and Duke wanted to invite her over for dinner, so he talked to his dad and told him to “behave”. Hillary came over and grew fond of Dukes parents, especially his dad because he gave her a bracelet from New York. After this Duke did something just to surprise and please his father, Duke tried out for the wrestling team. He made the team as a substitute at 135 lbs. Harry never missed a match. Duke was undefeated and eventually became second best in the county and made it to the county finals and went up against Bankman, who is also undefeated. This story had an effective exposition, good suspense and imagery.
Rodeo is comparable to any other professional sport; it takes hours of hard work, an endless support system, and tons of motivation for a talented athlete to reach their coveted dreams. Many rodeo athletes have worked hard their entire lives, invested in trucks and trailers, drove thousands of miles, practiced very hard, yet fail to win as much as they should. This shows the importance of the mental game, some athletes have the ability to focus and pull through in high-pressure, intense situations while others fail. My dreams of becoming a World Champion PRCA Cowboy will not come true if my mental game does not significantly improve; these dreams require endless practice for my events, hard work, and mental game preparation.
Wrestling is more than just a sport; it is a way of life. And for those who enjoy its opportunities, it is something that takes the mind off of all of life’s troubling times, and puts one man against another to get their hand raised. Competition makes everything evolve, and there is no other sport that epitomizes what competition truly is. Wrestling spans the entire globe, and although it incorporates several different styles and many National and World events, remains overlooked by most.
Starting the season as the second ranked wrestler in the state, I was just where I wanted to be, noticed, but not the "top dog". I did well during the season; not losing to anybody in the 3A classification. I didn't do quite what I wanted, but I wasn't going to complain. A broken hand after the second weekend of competition didn't help any, but I fought through it and kept my eyes set on one opponent, one goal, one match, six minutes.