2025/Logan-

The place that holds my memories, good and bad, is the place that is my home. Countless hours in the gym, on the mat or in a singlet with the people I had called my coaches and teammates. Home is something that I can always count on to change up the mood of the day.

Many may say that a home is the place that was able to keep them safe, feed them, and a place to relax in, a place that rarely ever changed. In my house, it was the mat where I learned to “take a shot” or the shoes that were so snug it fit like a sock. That’s the home I love. Hours of running laps or the thousands of times I can hear the word “Crossface!” come from the coach’s corner. The “Good job!” after every match and every “Nice try!” after I’ve lost.

Every single uncomfortable singlet I could try on is what I am able to call home. The countless times in practice where all I was waiting for was the time for Coach to call the water break and all of the embarrassing barefoot practices when I forgot my wrestling shoes. The memories I have made from my home that they call a sport, both good and bad, have shaped me not only with my physique, but also with the way I can carry myself and the way my philosophy has changed.

The home that has a scent of foam,rubber and sweat is the scent of home that I can call the scent of hard work. Daily practices and hundreds of hours of mat time is what I can call my house. The hours of bus rides with my teammates where we would pull pranks on whoever fell asleep first. The celebratory screams that we would say when we would win against a team we thought we couldn’t beat and the screams of anger we would have when we lost to a team we could easily beat.

Home is the wrestling mat that always can motivate me and give me something to look forward to after school. Home is the weight room where I am able to better condition myself for the season coming up. And home is the memories I have made with my teammates that I can cheer for and help improve each other.