It may not be like this everywhere, but in my state, Ohio, wrestlers from all corners of the state come together, as one team, to prepare for Fargo. They train together at St. Ed's in Cleveland for the week prior to the tournament, under the guidance of an army of volunteer coaches who also come from all corners of the state. The wrestling community of St. Ed's and greater Cleveland open up their homes to our wrestlers for a week -- housing them, feeding them, helping with laundry, and transporting them to camp. Past wrestling legends and rising stars make their way to the camp over the course of the week to teach and encourage and inspire the wrestlers as they prepare for the tournament. To me, this is youth sports at its very, very best.
I agree with you that these national tournaments should be steppingstones that give kids an opportunity to learn about the sport and themselves, and for most kids, that's exactly what Fargo is. While there will always be a few bad apples, the majority of us wrestling parents eventually figure out that in the sport of wrestling, the journey (and all the lessons and experiences along the way) is 100 times more important than any end result. The lucky ones figure this out sooner rather than later, when there's still time left to enjoy the ride.
I consider myself one of the lucky ones, and for us, the week ahead is going to be an awesome one!
PS: It is now Monday, July 28 and we are back home in Ohio, with many wrestlers from all over the state whom we now call friends. It was indeed an awesome week! I had two sons wrestle in Fargo, a Cadet and a Junior. My older son leaves for college in a few weeks, and this was probably the last time my sons will wrestle together in the same singlet, on the same team, so that alone made the tournament very special for us.
We are extremely proud of our younger son, Alex, simply for making it to Fargo. He did not place high enough at our state tournament to secure a spot on Ohio's team, so he went to the Central Regional a few weeks later and placed third in Greco to earn his spot on the team, which was not an easy feat. Our older son, AJ, had no plans of going to Fargo without his brother this year, so Alex's hard-earned placement at Central Regionals is what put both of our sons on Team Ohio. Our older son, AJ, wrestled in his final high school tournament in Fargo, and surpassed his goal of ending his high school career as an All-American by making it to the finals in both Greco and Freestyle, surprising a lot of people along the way. Obviously, we are very proud of him too!
Our boys typically only enter a couple of big, national tournaments each year. Our family has limited resources, and like you, we think that our boys should do other things in the off-season besides wrestling. But Fargo is like no other tournament. Fargo is special, and Fargo will remain on our list.
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