Outside Looking In

Highs and lows of athletics
We place an abundance of pressure on athletes to win at every level of competition. Sometimes it's a heavy burden to carry for some, especially at the high school level.
But what about the pressures thrust upon on some athletes that simply are not experienced enough or talented enough in a particular sport to experience success. These athletes continue to participate simply because they enjoy the competition, the camaraderie with teammates, and the thrill of the team coming together for a common cause.
We rarely see those types of athletes anymore for fear that they will be ridiculed, especially in this opinionated social media era. Losing just isn't accepted by some coaches and fans. If an athlete is unable to win individually in sports such as golf, track or wrestling, to name a few, or is relegated to the bench in a team sport and is rarely called upon, more times than not he or she will simply step away. There is nothing wrong with accepting or admitting defeat.
That's why I have grown to admire Minneota athlete Joe Verschelde. I have covered thousands of athletes at all levels in my many years as a journalist. Verschelde would easily be near the top of my list of athletes that I wish more there were more of.
Verschelde has experienced both the highs of lows of sports. As a starting lineman for the Minneota football team, he was an integral part of the Vikings winning the Class A state title this past fall. He not only played well, but he was the team's inspirational leader, Many players on the team spoke highly of him to me because of his ability to pump them up before and during a game.
When the football season ended, Verschelde was recruited by several football players who also wrestled to join the wrestling team and fill a hole at 220 pounds.
Verschelde's wrestling experience dated back to elementary school where he wrestled for two seasons and then was the wrestling team's manager in seventh and eighth grade, and again his sophomore year.
Despite knowing that wins would be on a very limited basis because of his lack of experience, Verschelde agreed to join the wrestling team for his senior season as a way of helping out the team in any way he could.
Verschelde has experienced winning as an individual just once all season and has been pinned in the majority of his matches at 220 pounds. But the mere fact that he has stuck it out for the entire season and not said "the heck with it" and walked away shows the character of this individual.
Simply agreeing to help fill a need on the team while knowing you weren't going to produce a lot of points makes him a winner. Verschelde is still helping in other ways, both by wrestling a teammate in practice and helping them improve, or by providing inspiration to teammates during a match. Or even if he avoids getting pinned in a match, he has saved the team a few points had they forfeited the open weight.
"Joe has done a great job of having a positive attitude and being a great teammate," said Minneota co-coach Matt Buysse. "He came back out this year to help the team, and by him joining the team, allows us some flexibility with our lineup and helps us get the best matchups to compete in each team dual. Joe always tries his best and fights as hard as he can to help his teammates."
There are other Minneota athletes that have experienced highs and lows this season, but not to the extent that Verschelde has. The majority of athletes on any team in any town who have experienced the season he has endured this year in wrestling would have waved goodbye long ago.
Verschelde admits losing bums him out. It's not that he is embarrassed and ashamed of himself because he knows that he is trying his best. His sadness stems from the fact that he feels he is letting his team down.
It's really hard not to root for someone like that. In fact, when the wrestling results are emailed to me after each match this season, I immediately check to see how Verschelde did, hoping and praying that all the hard work he has put in will pay off. He deserves it as much as anyone.

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