“Ely, the score is eight to one! Remember, if you lose by more than eight, we will only tie for first! Excellent job getting off your back! Break him down, two-on-one, and throw the half! You got it!”
“Yes,....sir,” Ely said through gasps.
The referee motioned for them to return to the center.
“Go get em, buddy!” Sel said.
Ely turned around and caught Jeff out of the corner of his eye. He saw him mouth the words, kick his ass.
Ely took the down position as he was instructed to do. Generally, being in the down position was more advantageous for scoring. It was much easier to get an escape or reversal than it was to turn someone onto their back for near fall points. So Ely got into the down position, on his hands and knees with his butt sitting on his ankles, and within seconds he felt his opponent grip his arm and stomach as he took the top position.
Round Three:
Then the whistle blew. The Kopachuck kid went to work on Ely, going back and forth between a tight waist and a far ankle whenever Ely made it to his base. He threw the half on Ely several times but couldn’t turn him onto his back. Ely kept his head up and kept working for a stand up.
Suddenly Ely felt nothing on his back. His opponent had jumped back, allowing Ely to stand up, giving him one point for an escape. Sometimes, if a wrestler was good at takedowns, or at least confident that he could get one, he would let his opponent get an escape. He could then take him down, netting him a point. And that was exactly what this kid was doing.
The score was now eight to two.
But before Ely could contemplate the score, the kid moved in fast and took Ely to the mat with a beautiful double leg takedown.
The score was now ten to two
Shit, Ely thought. He is winning by eight and that is a major decision, which will earn four points for his team, tying the overall team score. Ely couldn’t let that happen.
Mr. Seljin was at the side of the mat screaming. The entire bench was yelling. Hundreds of people in the stands were yelling and pounding their feet, and the only thing Ely could hear was his heart pounding in his chest.
Then he heard something else. He began to hear his dad’s voice. It was soft at first. Then it got louder. Soon it was drowning out everything else. “Come on, pussy,” his dad said. “Get your fat ass moving.” The barrage of insults continued for what seemed like minutes, and with every hurtful word Ely’s anger grew, until it finally erupted in a roar of defiance.
He heaved himself up like a submarine breaking through an ice sheet. It felt as if his opponent weighed a hundred pounds, not two hundred. He was desperate to get his weight off, to throw off the very thing that was holding him down, which to Ely felt like the personification of every negative thing his father had ever said to him. He exploded to his feet like a volcano, lifting his opponent with him. The Kopachuck wrestler was frantically trying to maintain his hold around Ely’s body so he wouldn’t escape They spun around as they fought, Ely savagely trying to break away, still fueled by his rage.
“Head and arm!” he heard from the bench. He wasn’t sure who said it, but it triggered a memory of him practicing the move with Cisco in the very same position he was now in. He remembered coach Seljin calling it a desperation move, a move to try when you had nothing to lose and the match was almost over. Ely figured that in his current predicament now was the right time to do it. So he reached back with his left arm and grabbed the kid’s head, simultaneously gripping his far arm with his right hand. They were already moving forward as his opponent was trying to shove him out of bounds, when Ely heaved with all his might and threw his hip into him. He really didn’t know how he did it, but in a blink, the Kopachuck kid was flying through the air as Ely threw him in a head and arm. They hit the mat hard as Ely tenaciously held onto his head and arm, squeezing as tightly as he could.
Then the buzzer rang.
Ely was in a daze but he did hear the referee signal a two point reversal. Technically it would have been a takedown. But since he did not get an escape first, it would be awarded as a reversal. And since the kid was only on his back for a second before the buzzer rang, Ely would not be getting any near fall points. But it didn’t matter. He only needed two.
Ely released his hold and looked up and saw that the score was now ten to four. He lost, but only by six. That meant that the Kopachuck wrestler had only won by a decision.
The gym exploded into wild cheers as they watched the score flash up on the scoreboard, 45 to 44. Key Peninsula had just won the league title by one point and everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs.
Ely slowly lifted his exhausted body off the mat, a dazed smile slowly spreading across his face. He looked over at Mr. Seljin who was jumping up and down and screaming with joy, although Ely had no idea what he was saying. His eyes drifted to the others on the bench who were also howling with glee. Jeff was yelling at Ely and hugging John at the same time. Cisco was screaming something but he couldn’t hear anyone. But he didn’t need to hear a thing. All he needed to see were the looks on their faces. They were looking at him with joy, with happiness, with a you did it expression. It gave him a feeling he had never felt before.
The referee raised his opponent’s hand in victory and all Ely could do was smile. He lost the match, but he won something greater. For the first time, he won respect.
***
The rest of the evening was a blur. He had never felt so much joy. Kids he had never met congratulated him and teammates who had rarely spoken to him patted him on the back.
His mom couldn’t come to the match as she had to rest before her graveyard shift at the grocery store. But she picked him up just after the match and she planned on dropping him off at home on her way to work. Ely was excited to see her to tell her the news.
She was a little late so Ely had to wait outside the gym with Mr. Seljin, who had to wait until all the wrestlers were picked up before he could leave. Ely felt bad that he was keeping him.
“Don’t worry, bud. I don’t mind,” Mr. Seljin assured Ely. “You wrestled great tonight, you know.”
“Thanks…but I still lost,” Ely said.
“True, but we didn’t. And we would have without you. You handed us the league title. You should be proud. Besides, you had a good match. That kid was pretty tough and you wrestled the best I’ve seen you wrestle. That stand up was great. You countered his half nelsons perfectly. And that head and arm at the end was classic. You’ve improved a lot, trust me,” Sel smiled.
“I guess so. It did feel good at the end of the match when I threw him in that head and arm,” Ely said, returning his smile.
“I bet it did. You never know what could’ve happened. Another thirty seconds you might have pinned him. One step at a time Ely. You’re getting better and you’ll continue to do so.”
“Did you ever lose?” Ely asked.
“Of course, everyone loses at some point. I lost a few matches when I was in middle school, but I didn’t lose as many in high school, or college. But I can still remember my losses like they were yesterday. You know, you learn more from losing than winning. Just like in school, you never get better if you don’t make mistakes. It’s part of the learning process.”
“I guess so, but it still doesn’t feel good. Were you a state champ in high school?” Ely asked. He had heard that Mr. Seljin was some prodigy wrestler, that he had won several state titles and then went on to win some national titles, but no one had ever confirmed it.
“Yeah, I won the state title my junior and senior year.”
“How did you do in college?”
“Two national titles.”
“Wow. I can’t imagine being that good at something.”
“Everyone is good at something. You’ll find what you’re good at, don’t worry. Is that your mom?” Sel asked, indicating a beat up Datsun 210 driving into the school parking lot.
“Yup,” Ely said as he grabbed his backpack and headed for the car.
“Nice jo
b tonight. I’m proud of you Ely,” Sel said as he followed Ely over to his car that was now parked at the curb.
Ely turned and smiled. “Thanks.” Mr. Seljin walked around the car to the driver side window.
Ely got into the car as Mary rolled down the window.
Mr. Seljin leaned down to speak to her. “Hello, Mrs. Carter, I’m Mr. Seljin, Ely’s coach and teacher. I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know how well Ely is doing.”
“Hello, I’ve heard so much about you. Ely really enjoys your class. And thank you for letting him borrow your books. I can’t keep him supplied fast enough. He moves through books faster than apple pie,” Mary said with a laugh.
“No problem. I’m glad I can feed his voracious appetite for literature. You know, Ely won the match for us tonight. We won the league title because of him,” Sel said with a big smile.
Mary looked at Ely. “You won, honey? I’m so proud of you.”
“Well,” Ely stammered, “not exactly.”
“He lost, but only by enough to award his opponent a win by decision, which gave the Kopachuck team three points,” Sel explained. “We were winning 45 to 41 before Ely’s match so the final score was 45 to 44. We won by one point because Ely didn’t give up. He wrestled really well tonight.”
“If I hadn’t been there the team would have had to forfeit the match and Kopachuck would have received six points,” Ely explained, trying to make his loss sound less like a loss.
“And they would have won the match by two points?” Mary interjected.
“Exactly. He lost his match, but he won us the league title,” Sel confirmed.
Mary turned back to Ely and patted him on the leg, smiling broadly. “I’m so proud of you, son.”
Ely returned her smile.
Ely was on cloud nine until the car arrived at his long dirt driveway. Apprehension about seeing his father grabbed a hold of him and began to smother his previous feelings of elation. His stomach began to knot up and his heart beat faster. If he was lucky he’d already be passed out. If not, depending on his mood, it might not go well for Ely.
Mary dropped him off with a kiss on the cheek and Ely walked slowly to the front door, his apprehension causing him to perspire even though the night was cool. He could hear the television but couldn’t tell whether his father was up and about.
When he opened the door his heart sank. Bill was standing at the refrigerator grabbing another beer.
Ely put his head down, closed the door, and moved towards the hallway that led to his room. “Hey, dad,” he said softly as he tried to scoot by him without a confrontation.
“Well, how’d you do, boy?” Bill asked as he turned around and popped open the can, which fizzed briefly as Ely reluctantly stopped and faced his father.
“We won the league title. We beat Kopachuck by one point. It was a great match,” Ely said with enthusiasm, hoping to sideline his father’s next question, which would probably be about his own match.
Bill took a long drink from his beer. “That’s good,” he said. “Did you win your match?” he added after a loud burp.
“Well, sort of,” Ely added apprehensively.
“What do you mean, sort of? You either won or you didn’t.”
“Well, if I hadn’t been there the team would’ve lost by one point. But because I was there, and I only lost by a decision, we won the match,” Ely added quickly.
“You lost your match, and you’re happy about it?” Bill said, his voice rising a little.
“Dad, I wrestled my best match so far. I didn’t get pinned and because of that we won.”
Bill looked disgusted. “What the hell is wrong with you, boy! You lost, again, and you think that’s a good thing?”
“I don’t think it’s good. I’m just trying to explain to you how the scoring works—.”
“I’m not stupid, boy!” Bill interrupted. “I get it. But I don’t give a shit about the team score. You lost. That’s all that matters. Get out of my face. You disgust me.”
Ely looked up at his father. He was going to say something else but thought better of it. Luckily for Ely, Bill wasn’t too drunk yet, so his abuse was strictly verbal. Ely didn’t want to push it so he lowered his head and quickly made his way to his room.
He wanted to shower but he knew his dad might yell at him. Instead he went into the bathroom, wet a hand towel, and proceeded to do the best he could to wipe the sweat off his body. He wasn’t sure it did much to eliminate the residual musty odor of his body resulting from his hard fought match, but it was better than nothing.
In his room Ely put on a fresh pair of underwear, turned on his bed lamp, and clicked off the light in the room. He lay down in his bed and pulled the blankets up over his chest. He lay there for several moments staring at the ceiling and thinking about the evening. Not a bad day, Ely thought. His mind drifted to the expressions on his teammates’ faces after his match. He could still hear the roaring of the crowd and in his mind’s eye he visualized Mr. Seljin jumping up and down in sheer joy. He was responsible for that. He did something that he was proud of. It was a good night. He was going to bed happy, a relatively novel experience for him. He had suffered only the usual verbal abuse from his father, and bore no injuries from his father’s fists. Ely smiled. It was a good day, and as he knew from experience, it could have been a lot worse.
It was still early for Ely to sleep. Usually he’d read a bit until he drifted off to sleep. But tonight he was tired, and he wanted to fall asleep thinking about this wonderful night. For once he didn’t want to read to escape to another world, he wanted to stay right where he was, relishing the feeling of his accomplishment. So he reached up, clicked off the light, and closed his eyes.
Eighth Grade
Ninth Grade
Tenth Grade
Ely’s eyes shot open as his alarm clock buzzed annoyingly. He reached up and slapped his hand on the clock, struggling to find the snooze button.
Over the past three years, Ely had thinned out a bit as he had lost some of the pudginess of youth. But he was still big, weighing over two hundred and fifty pounds, and a significant amount of it was still fat. He had grown several inches and now stood nearly as tall as his father, just over six feet tall.
Ely dragged himself up and sat on the edge of his bed, scratching his head. His shaggy brown hair failed to cover his left eye, which was still slightly puffy and tinged a light shade of purple. His swollen upper lip was adorned by a small bloody scab. He slumped over wearily, feeling about as bad as he looked.
He sighed, stood up, and readied himself for his chores. Bill had asked Ely to have all the wood chopped by the time he got back from work, which would be sometime around four o’clock.
For the last four months Bill had managed to hold down a job at an auto parts store. It only paid minimum wage, but at least it was something. The best part was that it got Bill out of the house, which meant he had less time to drink, and less time to harass Ely. And even though Ely had spent most of his summer performing various chores for his father, it was still one of the best summers he could remember. Bill had only hit him on several occasions, the other night being the worst. But all in all, Ely had avoided his father’s anger fairly well over the last few months.
Ely ate a quick breakfast of toast and orange juice and made his way outside. There was a massive pile of wood that Ely had cut up several days ago and Ely’s job was now to split and stack it. The woodpile was over four feet high and Ely knew it would take all day to finish the job.
He sighed, grabbed the splitting maul, and walked over to the woodpile. He turned on his CD player, placed his ear phones in his ears, and began splitting the logs. It was going to be a long hard day.
It was nearly one o’clock and Ely had managed to work through only about half of the woodpile. I better get moving, Ely thought, knowing that his father would be pissed if he didn’t finish on time. He had picked up the pace a bit when the sound of a horn suddenly startled him, interrupting
the monotony of the seemingly endless task of splitting and stacking wood.
He turned to see a blue Honda driving up the road, and Ely smiled as he placed another piece of wood on the stack by the barn. It was Jeff, and Ely walked quickly over from the barn to the edge of their driveway to greet him. It was a hot day, and Ely’s shirt was drenched with sweat while rivulets of perspiration dripped from his eyebrows.
The car skidded to a stop and Jeff got out. Ely could see a cute blonde girl sitting in the passenger seat. Jeff was now five ten and weighed a hundred and sixty five pounds, most of it dense muscle resulting from over five years of wrestling. He had always been good looking, but was now downright handsome, with short hair and a genuine smile. Ely always thought he looked like the young men you see on the Abercrombie and Fitch bags and the posters in their stores. Jeff was wearing black and lime green board shorts, flip flops, and a white tank top.
“Ely, what up?” Jeff said, reaching out to shake his buddy’s hand.
“Hey, Jeff. You slumming or what? What brings you out in my neck of the woods?”
Jeff had been to Ely’s house before, but the visits were infrequent. They had slowly developed a growing friendship during eighth grade and it had continued into high school. They didn’t really see each other much, but they sort of had an unspoken connection. Neither of them had ever really talked about it, and Ely often wondered what Jeff saw in him, but either way, they both regarded each other as a friend, that much was certain.
“I had to come deliver the good news personally,” Jeff said.
“What good news?”
“I just got word that Mr. Seljin was hired to teach at Peninsula High School and he’s going to be the head wrestling coach,” Jeff said enthusiastically.
“What! You’re kidding! What happened to Mr. Hobart?”
“He retired. And no, I’m not kidding. Now you have no excuse. You have to wrestle,” Jeff reasoned.
The Life of Ely Page 7