Lost and Gone Forever, 1997-2000, by Nic Joint

From MemoryArchive

Who: Nic Joint
What: Wrestling
When: 1997-2000
Where: Iowa

Lost and Gone Forever

February 24, 1997 – Making it to districts was a great experience. No one expected me to come within one match of the state tournament, not to mention winning 24 matches. At least Brett qualified this year. It will be fun traveling to Des Moines to see how some of the other Hawkeye 10 guys end up.

One thing is for sure, I’ve got some talent in this sport. I definitely want to wrestle somewhere in college. Since my folks are poor and won’t be able to send me to college, my only realistic way of going to college will have to be a wrestling scholarship. My grades surely won’t get me there. I also made a crucial decision as to what I wanted to do with my life following completion of high school. I wanted to wrestle at the college level. This decision was due in part to my success as both a freshman and sophomore varsity wrestler. During my freshman season, I tied a record for the most varsity wins of any freshman in school history.

Mom: Have you put any thought into what you’re going to do in a few years?

Nic: What do you mean?

Mom: I really would like for you to go to college!

Nic: Well duh mom! Of course I’m going to college. All of my friends are going. I’m not hanging around small town Iowa my whole life.

Mom: Well that’s good. I was just checking.

Nic: I really want to wrestle somewhere. My coach thinks I have enough ability to compete at that level someday.

Mom: That would be great Nic. I think you should come wrestle in Pella.

Nic: We’ll see. I’ve got a long ways to go.

March 1st, 1998 – State wrestling tournament, what a sight! Watching from the stands doesn’t even come close to being on the mats. Speaking of which, the four mats in the center of Veterans Auditorium had to have been the softest mats I’ve ever had the privilege of wrestling on. Sure, I went two and out, but my goal was to just make it to state, and I did just that.

I’ve decided to spend a week during July at the UNI wrestling camp. I can’t wait! Luckily my dad already told me he would split the bill with me. Too bad I didn’t have a teammate as dedicated as I am who would be willing to come with.

After talking with coach Moreno, I was given the green light to come to Clarinda to wrestle with their freestyle and Greco team. I hope Heinold doesn’t slap me around too bad. It would be nice to hold my own with him. He got third at state this year. He’ll definitely be a great bar to measuring myself to for next season.

During my freshman season, I tied a record for the most varsity wins of any freshman in school history. The following year was followed up by an even more impressive accomplishment, qualifying for the Iowa High School State wrestling tournament. A feat that had been achieved by only a handful of other wrestlers at my school.

My work ethic toward becoming a college wrestler fed off of this accomplishment. The following spring, I began wrestling the Olympic styles of wrestling in USA Wrestling sponsored events. I also began going to week long wrestling camps held at some of the most prestigious wrestling schools in the country.

Mom: How about you come see me as soon as baseball season is over? You can visit for at least a couple weeks.

Nic: Well, it’s going to have to wait until I get back from wrestling camp at Northern Iowa.

Mom: How about this, you have your father take you up there. Then when you’re done, I’ll drive up to Cedar Rapids to get you, and then you can stay for a couple weeks?

Nic: Sounds good to me, I doubt Dad will have a problem with that.

February 26th - What a bitch of a day. I can’t believe I cried, I am such a pussy!! This dam cold!! I haven’t been sick in years, and then I get one of the worst colds I’ve ever had, just as the state tournament rolls around. That’s no excuse. I should have beaten those guys, cold or no cold…well, maybe not the first guy that beat me, he was a good, real good. He’ll surely win the state title tomorrow night.

Nothing left to do now but bust my ass for next season. Grandpa already told me he would take care of the bill for the University of Iowa wrestling camp, which should be a good start. Dammit! I’m so disappointed!

My Junior year of high school wrestling was filled with both success and failure. I had goals of earning a medal at state that year and to win thirty plus matches during the season. I won my thirty matches and qualified for the state wrestling tournament again that season, but fell short in reaching the medal round of the state tournament. I lost matches to eventual second and forth place medal winners which would have put me on the medal stand. What was worse, I had beaten the fifth place medal winner earlier in the season. I was so close to my goals, yet so far away.

I worked and trained harder in preparing for my senior season than I had in any previous season. I would lift weights five days a week along with running roughly ten miles per week. I also spent a week of my summer at the University of Iowa wrestling camp (regarded by many to be the top wrestling camp in the nation). My vision was a state championship which would undoubtedly earn me a scholarship at most any small school with a wrestling program.

Mom: You wrestled good Nic. You have nothing to be ashamed of.

Nic: Whatever.

Mom: I can tell your sick, I’m sure that didn’t help.

Nic: No shit?

Mom: Come on, quit being such a jerk. At least you made it to state again.

Nic: You’re not helping.

Mom: Ya, but I’m trying. I’m your mother, it’s my job.

Nic: Please don’t. Let’s talk about something else.

December 25th 1999 – 15-2 at Christmas break, not too shabby. I beat both of the guys that have given me my only losses, one of them twice. I killed Bloom in freestyle, 10-0 technical fall. Should be 17-0! I’ll see him again in a few weeks; I am looking forward to a rematch. Things are looking good. I’ve got a dozen or so coaches sending me letters, and a fist full who have called me up on the phone. Can’t let up, crunch time is coming up.

I checked my district assignment on the internet. Talk about a tough draw. I’ve got my work cut out for me. I’ll have to get by at least one of two medal winners in my district. Not easy, but if I want to become a state champion, I’ve got to beat the best. This is just another hurdle in the road.

To encourage my efforts, I had begun to receive letters from coaches around the state, as well as phone calls from many of the coaches who had sent letters. They would ask me how my season was going and if I had considered where I would like to go concluding my senior season. The table was set for my future; all that was left was to perform like a champion.

Senior season started off extremely well. I had only lost two matches going into Christmas break, and was ranked in the top six in my weight class. One of the matches was lost to a wrestler in a heavier weight class, so it really didn’t bother me that I had lost to this wrestler since it was someone I would not wrestle again for the rest of the season. The other wrestler who gave me my second loss, Tyler Bloom (I still remember his name seven years later), was someone I had beat the season prior by a two point victory, and had also beat by a technical fall during a USA Wrestling freestyle tournament. I was virtually guaranteed a rematch with Bloom at the first tournament after Christmas break since both of our schools would be competing at the same tournament.

Mom: Merry Christmas Bubby. We’re all very proud of you.

Nic: Thanks mom. You’re just proud because my girlfriend isn’t knocked up.

Mom: (laughing) Well, this is true, but we’re proud of you for a lot more than that. Have you decided where you’re going for school yet? You know I want you to wrestle in Pella.

Nic: We’ll see mom. I haven’t gotten any offers yet. I think a lot will depend on how I do this year.

January 16th, 2000 – Yesterday was a day of good news and bad news. Good news first, I avenged my previous loss to Bloom in the finals of the West Harrison tournament. Bad news is, I think I may have broken my collar bone during the match. I heard a loud pop in the closing minutes of the third period. It hurt like a son of a bitch this morning. I wanted Dad to take me to the doctor this morning, but he advised me not to. If the doctor says I can’t wrestle on my shoulder, he’ll be obligated to inform my coach, and then I’m screwed. This is a chance I’m not willing to take. I’ll just have to suck it up and wrestle through it.

Senior night is coming up on Thursday. There is no way I’m going o be able to compete. This is not good, not good at all! During a scramble (that is when both men are fighting furiously for controlling position, while neither man has gained control) which would give me a two point lead, I heard a loud pop in my shoulder and felt a sharp blow of pain simultaneously to the loud audible crack.

I knew immediately that the pop I heard and the pain to follow was on the wrong side of good. I did all that I could do at the time. I put an ice pack on my shoulder and hoped for the best.

That Thursday was senior night, the last home meet of my wrestling career. My mother, grandmother, and grandfather all drove a full two hours to see me compete one last time on Red Oak soil. Given my injury, I had no intentions of performing that night. To sweeten the pot, Bloom had been my 98th career victory. Two victories that night would have given me my 100th career win. Taking into consideration the opportunity that had risen, I choose to wrestle only 5 days after suffering my injury. I swallowed 1200 mg of ibuprofen, and I became only the third wrestler in my schools’ history to accomplish 100 victories. I did not compete on the wrestling mat for another two weeks.

Nic: I don’t know if I’ll be wrestling when you come up Thursday night.

Mom: What happened?

<i>Nic: Not for sure really. I think I broke my collar bone.

Mom: The Grandfolks and I already have a hotel room for that night. We’ll be up either way.

Nic: I can’t promise you anything. It’s not looking good right now. It will be a game time decision.

February 10th, 2000 – Sectional wrestling coming up in a few days. My shoulder still feels like crap. I thought I had a tough draw at Christmas time. Now I’ve got this freshman to contend with. His style is the worst case scenario for my shoulder. He must know about my injury. The first time we wrestled he went for my arm mercilessly! I fought him hard in our second match, losing in overtime. I’ve never seen my coach more upset than when I came within inches of winning the match in regulation. My confidence is in the gutter. I need a miracle.

Spiritually, my confidence was in the toilet. If my physical health was at 100%, it would take a top notch performance to beat the best wrestlers in the state. With my health far from full force, it would take a performance of epic proportion if I was to be crowned as state champion.

Mom: You don’t seem like your heart is into it.

Nic: Is it that obvious?

Mom: I’m your mother, we can sense these things.

Nic: Its going to be tough. I’ve got two wrestlers in my district who I’ve never beat. That’s difficult enough even if I was healthy.

Mom: Is it really that bad?

Nic: I can barely do pushups any more. I wake up in pain every morning, and I can’t make it through a practice without ibuprofen.

Mom: I don’t know what to tell you son.

February 14th, 2000 – After my disappointing final month of high school wrestling, I’ve come to the decision that college wrestling is not in my future. There are many reasons that have contributed to this decision. For starters, I know that if I’m on a team, I will spend most of my free time training and preparing. In other words, I’m not going to have much of a life. College students come back to Red Oak all the time and tell me about how much fun they have, and how crazy it is being a student. I’ll be missing out on all this fun. My heart just isn’t in the sport any more. I think its time to move on. I still plan on coaching someday. No sense letting all this wrestling knowledge go to waste.

Less than one month after suffering my injury, I was defeated in sectionals by a freshman who would eventually become a 3 time state finalist. For the first time in my career, I had failed to make it to the district tournament. Subsequently, any hopes of winning a state championship, or to even qualify for state tournament were dead. My wrestling career was over. During that month of my injury, I had made a decision that would change my life forever. I decided not to spend my college years on a wrestling team. The heartbreak of my senior year was too much for me to overcome psychologically. In addition, after my disappointing senior year performance, most of the interest once shown by college coaches had dried up.

Mom: You’re not coming to school in Pella, are you?

Nic: The only reason I was considering that school in the first place was because they were interested in me wrestling there.

Mom: Have you decided what your doing yet?

Nic: Phil wants me to go to a school in Missouri with him. It’s as good as any other place.

Mom: I still think you should come live with me and drive back and forth to Pella.

Nic: That’s not going to happen. I need my freedom sweetheart. These are the best years of my life coming up. Sorry mom, I love you to death, but I’m not spending them with my mother.