Mitchell Oakley: Sports teach great lessons about life and fairness

I have been a sports fan for as long as I can remember. Like a lot of young boys, I hit the last-second shot on a basketball court, threw a pass for a game-winning touchdown with no time left on the clock, and hit the winning solo homer in the 15th inning of the last game of the World Series.

Except — yes, it was all a dream. A youthful dream that never came to fruition because God didn’t have all that in my DNA. My eye-hand coordination was horrible. I was a string bean and all of 115 pounds soaking wet in full football gear as a sophomore high school student. My hands were small, and I never could throw that perfect spiral.

My dreams of sports went up like a puff of smoke from a strong Camel cigarette without a filter on the end. I am sure I coughed.

That didn’t stop me from trying, of course. On the farm we had a baseball diamond in the cow pasture and a high jump/pole vault pit. Some of my friends and I made it so we could play together and pretend we were the great athletes we were not. Or at least I was not.

We wrestled, but not in an organized athletic, school-sponsored sort of way. We wrestled on the oak tree roots in the yard, in the clover-covered cow pasture, and even on the rocks of a country store. Wrestling was tough and it made most of us farm boys even tougher. Well, maybe we pretended we were tougher from the experience, especially after watching Gorgeous George or Haystacks Calhoun ply their professional wrestling trade.

Wrestling was not my passion though, and I turned to keeping sports statistics and writing sports stories as my intro into the field I always dreamed about playing in. Instead of playing, I could write about the experiences of others and be just as involved. Through all the years of keeping stats and writing about the exploits of others, I learned that most any sport can teach valuable life lessons.

Wrestling, however, may be the sport that separates the chaff from the wheat, or in plain language, the men from the boys. I’ve learned that by watching my two grandsons grow up wrestling from a young age. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to see them in person as much as I would have liked but I’m thankful for today’s electronics that allow me to see their matches, either during or afterward. They live four hours away from here in the North Carolina foothills.

My oldest grandson, Caleb, as a senior, won the state championship in the 160-lb weight division in Class 2A two years ago. Ian is two years younger. That same year he placed third in the 170-lb weight division in Class 2A.

In 2023, Ian made weight in the 160-lb weight division in Class 2A and made his way into the semi-finals. In his semi-final match, a scoring error (referred to by NCHSAA brass as a “clerical error”) had given points to Ian’s opponent. In a match he had won, Ian now had lost. Instead of reviewing video that was clearly present and awarding the points properly to set the record straight, a re-wrestle was ordered by NCHSAA officials the next morning. Ian lost that match but wrestled back for third place again.

His dream of a state championship had dissipated right before his eyes. He learned. He learned that life is not always fair. Had it been, the points his opponent wound up with would have been awarded properly.

Ian has always been humble, but he learned a lot more about humility that day. He learned that it takes hard work and a commitment to success to be victorious. He learned that when you get knocked down the only recourse is getting up more determined than ever. He made it his mission to get back to Greensboro and get a state wrestling title.

All of what he learned that one day about a year or so ago will aid him the rest of his personal, academic and work life. Ian now understands that some things happen that are out of one’s own control. He understands that it takes a confident commitment and hard work to succeed in any endeavor.

Last Saturday, Ian won the state Class 2A wrestling tournament in the 175-lb division. He did it with confidence and a yeoman’s workmanlike skill. He had three consecutive pins before a dominant 6-3 decision in the championship match. His year-long mission was concluded. He smiled as he ran and gave his coach, Justin Adams, a huge bear hug. He concluded his senior year with a 47-5 record and had over 100 career high school wins.

Note: Ian is the son of Karen and Danny Moore of Denver, N.C. He is also the grandson of Ricky Moore, of Grifton; the late Barbara Moore, and Dottie and me. Thank you for allowing me to self-indulge in this column. Obviously, we are all proud of the accomplishments of our grandsons.