Minnesota Gopher Wrestling

I have been involved with wrestling all of my life. Whether it was watching my team from the stands, wrestling around with the guys on the mat, cheering them on, selling programs and concessions, or taking the stats, I have always, and will always be apart of wrestling. Even after two years of graduating from a high school that was big on wrestling, I still involve myself in both their program and the program at the University of Minnesota. This is why I chose wrestling as being my institution; it has been a memory as well as a present and future for me.  

             

(The picture above was taken in Williams Arena. This was during one of the biggest duals of Minnesota Gopher Wrestling)

I volunteer my time to be a Minnesota Gopher Wrestling Mat Aid. With this, I take stats, videotape the duals, sell programs, and promote and support the team. It shapes me into the person I am today. It allows me to express my love for wrestling with people of similar interests. My experiences with the Gopher wrestlers have been positive; therefore, I behave appropriately at the events and represent the team with pride. I love the feeling of adrenaline, and when I watch wrestling matches, it spikes. This is why I feel that my body is forming to like wrestling because I like the feeling of adrenaline. In the above picture, the stadium is packed; the fans are rallying, wrestlers wrestling, teammates hollering, and the coaches coaching. These are the things that I love about wrestling. Being able to be apart of this, creating this event, makes it all the better. As in Bourdieu’s writing, he said that bodies are a record of cultural experience. Since I have had a positive experience with wrestling, I am going to act optimistically while being at important events.

Bourdieu also stated that bodies do not know how or why they respond the way they do. I feel that my “taste” for wrestling was formed from my past. By being from a big wrestling school and because I would watch meets with my dad, who also shares the love for the sport. I have always been apart of a wrestling team; therefore, that is why I feel that I am drawn to wrestling more than any other sport. Being apart of the team gives me another family. That is why I feel that I dress in Minnesota Wrestling gear and wear clothing similar to what the other mat aids and wrestlers wear, to feel more apart of the team. Wearing the gear given to us from the team, similar to the clothing in the above picture, signifies that we are more apart of the team than anyone else is. It makes me feel at home, part of a family, part of a great wrestling team. By all of us wearing the same gear, it gives us more of a professional look. We are all able to share the authority we have by being apart of the team.

Being apart of the Minnesota Gopher Wrestling program has habitus. It has value to be with such a great wrestling program, one of the greatest in the country! Even after a year with the team, I know so much more about the team, athletics, professionalism, etc., than the average student does. By wearing the clothing given to us, being at the events, and promoting/supporting the team, it reminds the coaches, wrestlers, the fans, and me that we have created a great and successful team.