Dear Coach,

Dear Coach,

I hope this message finds you happy and rested.

I just want to thank you for the time you invested.

Never said I was too small, too slow, or too short.

You introduced me to wrestling, my favorite sport.

I had played football in fall and had plans for track in spring.

I played soccer and basketball as well, but here is the thing.

Wrestling is different; it demands so much more than the others.

You don't join a team; you gain aunts, uncles, sisters, and brothers.

You become a member of this great and extensive family tree.

So I want to say thank you, Coach, for sharing this gift with me.

You believed in me more than most adults in the school did.

You saw potential and promise, trapped under a rotting lid.

You burst through my barriers despite the initial stench and decay.

You harnessed and cultivated my work ethic but disguised it first as play.

I earned the drive that allowed me to fold opponents into submission.

That same drive today, allows me to turn my dreams into my mission.

Turn my plots into a plan, calculated steps towards success.

Plans that turn negatives into maybes and then maybes into yes.

I can't pretend that I remember all the moves you taught.

But don't get me wrong, I perfected a few but I learned a lot.

From crazy moves ranging from the guillotine to spladle.

From tactics like setting up the nearside to get a farside cradle.

Many of these lessons translated from mat to real life.

How to fight to the finish and to work through the strife.

Head off the mat, feet on the ground, and always keep them moving.

Avoid stalling, build your base, establish position and keep improving.

You helped develop my discipline, and helped establish my resolve.

Fortified my focus and taught me to relax, not panic, then problem-solve.

You helped me evolve and evaluate to become a greater person.

To remain calm, hopeful, and hard-working, even when situations worsen.

Though you all had different methods, tactics, and approaches...

I would not be who I am today without my wrestling coaches.

Coach Bates, who first introduced me to folkstyle during freshman year.

You taught me to control my anger and always be ready to face my fear.

A freshman on Varsity, you had high hopes and higher expectations.

We were expected to work hard and fight harder despite prior hesitations.

You taught brave doesn't mean fearless, but you can't always be scared.

Most battles are decided before they start you must always be prepared.

I grew endurance battling in our practice room called "the cage."

It was better than the other years when we practiced on the stage.

We used to have guys watch the edges to make sure no one fell off.

It definitely made interesting matches when we would wrestle off.

Coach Moose, you grew my gas tank with 5k as a warm-up run.

You showed that every day is a day to be better, the work is never done.

We ran regardless of the weather, whether it be hail, rain, or snowfalls.

Countless calisthenics, inside, outdoors, we ran over hills through the halls.

You liked half-nelsons over cradles, you liked the singles versus my double.

We bumped heads at times during practice which put me in some trouble.

But I see now, we were both stubborn, but unlike me, you had a plan.

I was working on being a good wrestler you were building me into a man.

You taught me to stand strong, especially when faced with adversity.

Wish they had still had wrestling when I was at Morgan State University.

Last but definitely not least, THANK YOU, my favorite, Coach Ryan.

You made me wrestle up and helped me see, I had the heart of a lion.

You put up with so much mischief from me and my teammates.

You knew you had a special group from right out of the gates.

You inspired pride on match days, home or away we dressed up.

Practices dawned with you and those red long johns meant we messed up.

I've said it a million times and I'll say it again and again and again.

When Coach put on those long johns, he had the strength of ten men.

Wrestling has taught me so much, even now as I coach my own team.

I didn't see then but know now, this isn't as easy as you three made it seem.

Thank you for the hours, days, and weeks of your time you submitted.

Your examples set the tone and helped us define the word committed.

Life lessons translated off the mat and touched every aspect of our lives.

Made us better fathers for our children and better husbands for our wives.

Years have gone by but the many teachings still run through my head.

You stand strong on the green line and battle whoever steps on the red.

Conditioning practices that felt eternal, and pushed limits like throwing up.

But through all the blood, sweat, and tears we noticed we were growing up.

Finding beauty in brutality, I showed off my brilliance through strategy.

I step on the green line every day, facing life with resilience through tragedy.

Life is always about choices even when it's a blur.

Sometimes top, bottom, or neutral, we can't always defer.

So to sum it all up I want to especially thank you three.

You instilled a passion that became a pathway allowing me to be me.

Sincerely,

Wolé Marville, (OLGCHS Class of 2000)