RhodyRaybo's blog

As of today, I have wrestled 61 different guys in over 250 matches since July 2011. I enjoyed most of them, but some had me almost quitting the sport entirely, but I won't dwell on the bad apples. What I do want to focus on in here and some upcoming blogs is what I'll call "One-Match Wonders". Guys that I wrestled with once, and only once and never saw again. And I'm not referring to guys who were out-of-town visitors. I'm talking about guys that were close enough where we could have wrestled at least a few times a year.

I'll start with my very first match since formally deciding to wrestle. I'll call him "Tom". Tom answered my Craigs List ad initially. He lived a bit of a hike from me. He lived in the Hartford area which is almost a 2 hour drive from here. But I was honored to have him as my first. Though I didn't know what I was really doing wrestling him, he was patient with me. He had me in a lot of good moves and had a lot of energy. He was also in construction, so he was rugged, something else I found desirable. "Tom" stayed for 2 hours, brought his own mats and was happy to just put me in long holds and keep me pinned. For my first time, I couldn't ask for a better wrestling partner. we would wrestle for 20 minutes, take a break for about 20 minutes, wrestle again, and on. I really did enjoy it.

Then after the match he agreed that he would like to get together for a rematch soon. I told him I'd love to.....I never saw him again after that. What happened? I did speak with him and exchanged a couple emails afterward, he told me he was "busy" and had work to do on his house. Was that really the reason? Could be. I really don't know why "Tom" and I never wrestled again. Could be the drive was too far, but I did offer to go see him sometime. Could be maybe my restrictions at the time were too much for him to deal with. Perhaps he noticed how badly I was shaking after our match. It was our first time and I was achy for days after that. Perhaps he feared injuring me. But in all reality, I'll never really know the real reason "Tom" was a "One-Match Wonder" with me. But whatever his reason was, he will always be fondly remembered as my first match. Thank you "Tom" for introducing me to the wonderful world of wrestling.