Chapter 12

It came as no surprise to Zach that Coach Crisfield summoned him to his office before practice on Monday. It was too much to expect that his failure to attend the Sunday clinic would be overlooked. He trudged into the office and took a seat in the plastic chair by the desk.

“We missed you at the clinic yesterday,” Crisfield began. “I thought I made it clear that I wanted all the starters there. It was a little embarrassing when Melchiore counted heads.”

“I planned on going, Coach,” Zach said. ”At least, I did when I left here on Saturday. But there was something I had to do and I couldn’t get out of it.”

“Was it something to do with that rock band you’re in?” Crisfield asked.

Zach was shocked that Crisfield even knew about the band. “Yeah,” he said. “I told them that I’d always be around on Sundays for practice. That was before the clinic came up.”

“Look, Zach,” Crisfield said. “So far you’ve shown me a lot this year. You obviously worked your butt off in the off-season. You’re bigger and stronger, and you’re in better shape than anybody on the team. That alone is amazing. Last year you couldn’t walk across the room without gassing. But I’m going to level with you here. I don’t like this band thing. It’s screwing you up. And that’s going to hurt my team.”

“It only made a difference this one time,” Zach protested. “Other than that I’ve managed to do both.”

“So far,” Crisfield said. “Who knows how long you’ll be able to keep it up.”

“That’s not fair,” Zach said. “Do you tell the other guys to go home and sit on their hands after practice every night? Like Olney, what about him? He goes hunting after nearly every match. How come you’re not all over him?”

“Because I ‘m not worried about that affecting my team,” Crisfield said. “That’s all you need to know.”

“What difference does it make what I do in my own time?” Zach said. “If I wasn’t the best 171-pounder you have I wouldn’t win the wrestle-offs. Why do you have to single me out?”

“Zach, I’m only trying to help you,” Crisfield said. “And take care of my team. I’ll give you another chance. Just try not to let it get in the way again. Let’s leave it at that.”

When Zach came out of the office Easton was standing near the door, as if he had been trying to hear what had been said inside. “How was band practice yesterday?” Easton asked Zach.

“How’s you’re weight?” Zach replied. “Still planning to run away to 160?”

Easton laughed. “What a dummy,” he said. “I played you like a fiddle last week. Do you think I wanted to take on Ocala? Nope, I was glad to let you have it.”

He was sure Easton hadn’t purposely thrown the wrestle-off, but the remark stung, especially since so many of his teammates were nearby. Zach was determined not to let Easton get away with it. “Oh yeah?” he asked. “Then why aren’t you and me wrestling off today then? What are you afraid of?”

“I’m going to try 160 out for a few weeks, but it has nothing to do with a choke-bag like you,” Easton said. “If I change my mind and come back you better look out.”

Easton pinned sophomore Dan Frederick’s sophomore brother Archie in the wrestle-off for 160 a few minutes later. There would be a second wrestle-off the next day, since the challenger had to win two out of three. Nobody had any doubt about who would win that one.

Later in practice Crisfield ordered the wrestlers to break up into their round robin wrestling groups. Archie Frederick and Easton were scheduled to wrestle first. Zach was third in line but he didn’t think he could wait that long for a piece of Easton. He walked out and dismissed Frederick with a jerk of his thumb. Frederick dutifully slithered away and Zach took his place without a word just before the wrestling was to begin.

Zach came at Easton high as soon as the whistle blew. He was determined to hit a headlock and throw Easton onto his back just as he had done in the wrestle-off. Easton seemed to know what was coming. He brushed the headlock away, ducked under Zach’s arm and slipped behind. After locking tightly around Zach’s waist he easily back-tripped Zach and covered for a two-point takedown.

When they restarted Zach came at Easton hard and low. He shot for a double leg takedown. If he got stuck he’d try switching to a fireman’s carry. It turned out that no backup plan was needed. He was in so deep that he wrapped both of Easton’s legs up and pulled them into his own chest before Easton knew what had happened. He lifted Easton enough to dump him onto his back and quickly inserted a reverse half nelson. It was so tight and Zach was so perfectly positioned that Easton couldn’t move. Easton relaxed his body immediately, trying to create the appearance that he hadn’t been trying very hard.

That enraged Zach even more and he tightened his grip. “Alright, alright, new start, Burnout,” Easton yelled as he reached around to slap Zach on the back. When Zach still didn’t let him up, Easton tried using his free hand to punch Zach, but was unable to land it because their bodies were too close together. “Get off me you freak!” Easton yelled. He bridged hard but still couldn’t free himself.

A long, loud blow on the whistle by Coach Hancock came next. Coach Crisfield ran over at the same time and tugged at Zach’s shoulder. “Get up Zach. Now,” he said sternly. Only then did Zach relax his grip and pull away.

After Easton pulled himself to his feet Zach moved to within inches of him. “Go ahead, let’s hear you talk trash now,” Zach said. Their faces were so close that Zach could feel Easton’s breath.

“You’re nuts!” Easton said. “What’s the matter with you?” He turned and walked away.

“Zach! Get up to my office right now!” Crisfield said. “Go!” Without a word Zach walked out of the Fire House and into the locker room. The office door was unlocked so he pushed his way in, allowing the door to slam into the wall, and took his customary seat in the plastic chair.

Coach Crisfield was already yelling when he appeared in the doorway. “I’m not going to have you disrupting my team. You’ve got to knock this stuff off. I’m not going to put up with it from you or anybody.”

“He started it, Coach,” Zach said bitterly. “He always starts it. Why does he get a free pass? He rags on me every chance he gets, right in front of everybody, and you never say a word. It’s worse now that I kicked his butt in wrestle-offs.”

“He’s been on the squad for three years and I’ve never had a problem with him,” Crisfield said. “I think it’s coming from you.”

“I’ve been here for three years too,” Zach said.

“Zach, you’re a good wrestler,” Crisfield said. “Who knew? I didn’t think so, even after last year. But you’re not going to last if you don’t cool it.”

“I’m trying, Coach, really I am,” Zach said. “It’s hard. He can do whatever he wants, and the whole team is always on his side. I feel like I have to stand up for myself because nobody else will.” He felt the sharp pain of tears forming in the corners of his eyes and stopped talking before it got any worse.

Crisfield leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head, trying to give his wrestler a chance to calm down. “I tell you what, Zach,” he said. “I’ll watch more closely. If that’s going on, I’ll put a stop to it. I’ll give you some protection. If I do that, will you try to tone it down a little? I really don’t want to lose you, Zach, but this has to stop.”

Zach nodded in the affirmative, afraid to speak because he didn’t want to cry. That was enough for Crisfield. “Okay, deal,” he said. “And I really need you to back off on the band stuff too. This team has to be your top priority. That’s the way wrestling is. Can you do that?”

“Maybe,” Zach said. “I’ll try.”

“Okay. I guess that’ll have to do for now,” Crisfield answered. “I’m going back to the room. Take a few minutes and get your head together before you come back.”

~~~

The doorbell rang just as Zach and his mom were finishing up with the dinner dishes. Before opening it Zach looked out the window and saw Fauquier’s van near a streetlight. He tried to remember the last time Fauquier had been at his house as he unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door.

Herndon and Dumphries were there as well as Fauquier. Zach figured that their reason for dropping by had something to do with what had happened the day before. “Where’s Glimmer?” he asked.

“Zach, we thought we’d come by and see how you’re doing,” Fauquier said.

“I guess you got home okay yesterday,” Dumphries said. “I would’ve given you a ride but you vanished.”

“I hitched,” Zach said. “One dude brought me most of the way. Then I just ran another mile or so.”

“Zach, we only had Glimmer over because we didn’t think you were coming yesterday,” Fauquier said.

“Whatever,” Zach said. “Do whatever you have to do.”

“What do you think about the band, Zach?” Fauquier asked. “Do you still want in? I don’t want to lose you but you don’t seem like you care much anymore.”

“Yeah, I still want in,” Zach said. “I was there yesterday, wasn’t I? I skipped wrestling practice to come.”

“We don’t want to lose you,” Herndon said.

“But you have to decide,” Fauquier said. “We know you’re not going to give up this wrestling stuff. The band has to be your top priority, though, or it won’t work.”

“Guys, haven’t I been making it work?” Zach asked. “Like I said, I skipped practice on Sunday for the band.”

“Not good enough,” Fauquier said. “We need that all the time, not just on your day off.”

“Did you guys all agree to come here and give me this ‘or else’ speech?” Zach asked, looking at Dumphries and Herndon.

“Yeah, we all agreed,” Fauquier said.

“And you already have my replacement lined up,” Zach said.

“Please,” Herndon said. “That guy blows. He can sing okay but he can’t play. We need a bass player too.”

“He did alright once he warmed up, Bo,” Fauquier said. “Come on, don’t make this too complicated.”

“I don’t want to get kicked out, guys,” Zach said. “I’ll try to do better. And if I can’t, then cool. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

“Zach, man,” Dumphries said. “I just want you to know. We didn’t know Glimmer was going to be there. Just Joe did. I would have told you on the phone that night, I swear. When he showed up I was as surprised as you were.”

“Cool , Toby,” Zach said. “I’m glad to hear that.”

~~~

The next day there was less tension in the Fire House during practice. Neither Easton nor Zach seemed to want a repeat of what had happened the day before. The intensity level was high whenever the two squared off and wrestled live, but there were no nasty words or unsportsmanlike wrestling. Zach wondered if Easton was going to back off now that he had formally secured his own spot in the lineup.

After live wrestling was over Coach Crisfield gathered the team around him in the center of the room to talk about neutral position stances. Zach began to scoot over with the rest of the team when he felt Coach Hancock’s hand on his shoulder. “Zach,” he said. “Come over here for a minute, I want to talk to you. You don’t need to hear what they’re saying over there.”

Worried that he had found a new way to get in trouble, Zach followed Hancock into the corner where the coach went down on one knee. Zach took a moment to wipe his face with his sweatshirt before going down into the same position. “I want talk to you about something my old coach called ‘owning the mat’. What I mean by that is being in control of the tempo, and, you know, the ‘feel’ of your match. Do you know what I mean?”

“Not really,” Zach said.

“Let’s get specific about you,” Hancock said. “I’ve been watching you. Once you’re out there, it looks to me like you can’t wait to pin your guy and get back off the mat. Now, that kind of aggression is good, don’t get me wrong. And that’s something that can’t be taught. But at some point a wrestler has to move beyond that.”

“Okay,” Zach nodded, not exactly sure what Hancock was getting at.

“The way you’re thinking now out there is, like, only thinking about ten seconds ahead,” Hancock. “What I’m talking about is thinking thirty seconds ahead, a minute ahead, maybe even about how the things you’re doing now will affect the match during the next period. Is the match moving too fast? Too slow? How can you set him up for something later? Things like that. Do you follow?”

“Yeah,” Zach said. “I think so.”

“It’s good to be a shark, but not all the time,” Hancock continued. “Instead of going into a pinning frenzy when the whistle blows, slow it down and think it through a little more.”

“Okay,” Zach said.

“It’s a lot to digest, I know,” Hancock said. “Just think about it. This isn’t something you can work on much at practice. You’ve got to do it during a real match. I want you to stretch the match out, try a few different things, see how you feel late in the match. You’ll still get your pins, and you should. That’s the name of the game. But if you get more comfortable out there, and maybe even keep your mind busier, I’m thinking you won’t gas out so much. Nervous exhaustion is a real thing. I’ve seen some great wrestlers who had to get past that. I think that’s your problem, too.”

~~~

Wednesday Night’s match was against Salem Catholic, a perennial conference doormat. The Chapel Forge lineup was the same as it was on Saturday except for the 160-pound weight class where Mark Easton would be making his season debut. During warmups Zach noticed that the crowd was bigger than it had been on Saturday. He liked that. Just like when he was playing music, he always thought it was better to have lots of people watching.

Hancock came over and set next to Zach during the 112-pound match. “How are you feeling?” he asked Zach.

“Good,” Zach answered.

“You remember what we talked about, right?” Hancock asked.

“Yeah,” Zach said.

“Okay. Let’s see what you can do,” Hancock said, slapping Zach on the knee as he stood up and walked away.

During the weigh-in Zach had taken a good look at his opponent, Brian Melbourne, and was unimpressed. He looked like a freshman who hadn’t spent any time lifting weights. He was a few inches shorter than Zach with most of his weight in his belly. When Melbourne came out in his singlet for the 171-pound bout he didn’t look any better than he had in the locker room. This was the kind of match that Zach normally expected to end early with a pin. Tonight, he decided, he’d try it Hancock’s way and think his way through the match.

As soon as the match started Zach shot in at Melbourne’s legs. He easily picked up a single leg, tripped Melbourne and followed him to the mat for two points. He chopped Melbourne’s arm and broke him down to his stomach. Then he easily inserted half-nelson and turned Melbourne onto his back. Less than a minute had gone by and he already had a 5-0 lead. He could have pinned Melbourne but he didn’t. He allowed Melbourne to peel off the half nelson and return to his stomach. Zach then re-applied the half nelson and turned Melbourne over again, this time holding the position until the period ended.

Zach easily escaped in the second period, and immediately headlocked Melbourne to his back. After those back points were awarded, he had a 14-0 lead, and the match was only halfway over. He let Melbourne out of the headlock, and at the same time thought about his own breathing. He felt good, he decided, but mostly because his opponent was so weak and inexperienced that it wasn’t taking much effort to score points. He allowed Melbourne get to his feet and break away, making the score 14-1 when the second period ended.

Before the third period began Zach decided that he’d done enough thinking. He went back to the half-nelson again, and put Melbourne on his back quickly. A few seconds later the referee slapped the mat and the match was over. Zach shook Melbourne’s hand and then returned to his own bench. Once there he was surprised at the warm greeting from his teammates. He heard a ‘Nice job, Zach’ and a ‘Way to go’, which was a pleasant change from the animosity he felt during practice.

Coach Hancock came over almost immediately. “How did you feel in the third period?” he asked. “You looked like you had plenty of air.”

“Yeah, I felt pretty good,” Zach said. “Did I do what you were talking about?”

Hancock smiled. “Well, sort of,” he said. “The kid was so horrible it was hard to do anything but pin him. But I think you’ve got the right idea. You looked good. And the most important thing is that you looked calm. That’s what I’m looking for more than anything else. That’s your ticket, staying calm out there.”