Takedown by Rich Wallace Read Free Book Online Page A

cold.
    After a couple of blocks he heard a horn beeping. He turned and saw his father’s car.
    “What are you doing out so late?” Dad said as Donald got in.
    “Just getting home from the match.”
    “Must have been a long one.”
    “It was away. Over in Bayonne.”
    “You win?”
    Donald shook his head. “I should have. I had the guy beat the whole match. I just couldn’t finish. Couldn’t hold on at the end.”
    “Tough break.”
    Mr. Jenkins had never been involved in sports as a kid, but he came to see Donald’s events when he had time. He was usually working when the games were scheduled, so it meant a lot to Donald when he got there.
    “Are you still having fun with it?” Dad asked.
    “I guess. It’s not exactly fun , you know, like being in Little League or something. It’s more like . . . I don’t know. It’s something I like to do because it makes me push myself.”
    “I can see that.”
    “Even when I get my butt kicked, I can feel that I’m getting somewhere. Like sooner or later, if I work hard enough, I’ll really start to enjoy it. Just not quite yet.”
    “Makes sense.”
    “Nah, it doesn’t,” Donald said, his temper starting to heat up again. “I mean, I’ve been working my butt off. I’m tired of being patient. I should be winning matches.”
    They’d reached the house. Dad turned off the engine, and they sat in the car for a minute. “So, when’s the next one?” Dad asked.
    “Tuesday. Five more days. We wrestle Palisades at home.”
    “I’ll see if I can get there.”
    “That would be great if you could.”
    Donald stared through the windshield at the house. “It’s so frustrating,” he finally said.
    “So why do it?”
    “I don’t know. To prove something, I guess. That I can do it. That I can beat anybody out there. Anybody my size, at least.”
    “Who do you have to prove that to?” Dad asked. “I mean, I know that’s a valuable thing, but you need to figure out why it’s important to you.”
    Donald nodded. “Right. Maybe I don’t even know why I do it. I just know that I hate losing. And so far I’ve done nothing but lose.”
    They both thought that over for a minute. Then Dad gave Donald a soft whack on the knee. “You all right?” he asked.
    “I’ll get over it. Maybe by tomorrow. We’ll see.” He turned to his father and slowly shook his head. “I will start winning. I don’t know when, but I will.”
    “No doubt about it,” Dad said. “You work hard enough, sooner or later you succeed.”
    Donald just nodded, but right away he felt better.
    “We’d better get in and feed the cat,” Dad said.
    “Better feed me, too. I’m starving.”

11
    Double Challenge
    M onday was wrestle-off day, when any junior varsity wrestler could challenge a varsity member for his spot in the starting lineup. Donald had made it clear that he was after Jesse’s berth at ninety-five pounds.
    “We’ve got two challengers at that weight class,” Coach said as the wrestlers took seats in the bleachers. “So, they’ll wrestle first to determine who takes on Jesse.”
    Donald looked around. Mario hadn’t said a word, but obviously he was the second challenger. Mario looked at Donald and nodded with a tight smile. Donald made a fist but smiled back.
    “Mario and Donald, get out here. After your match, we’ll run through the challenges in the other weight classes, then whoever wins your match can go against Jesse.”
    Donald stepped to the mat and reached for his toes, feeling the stretch in the backs of his legs. So one win wouldn’t be enough to get him a spot on varsity. He’d have to beat two guys in a row.
    I can handle that , he thought.
    He’d spent the entire school day preparing mentally for this match, thinking he’d be going against Jesse. Now he needed to turn that energy toward Mario and keep it going after that.
    Maybe he could just pin Mario in a hurry and forget that this match even happened. Then he could get right back to his