Drew Romero, a 21-year-old cadet at the Air Force Academy, recently had the honor of participating in the 2016 NCAA Division 1 Wrestling National Championships at Madison Square Garden in New York City. However, in the weeks leading up to the NCAA Championships, Drew was unsure that he would even have the chance to compete at the championships.
To initially qualify, Drew had to first compete at the Big 12 conference tournament. Being the second-string 125-pound weight class wrestler for the Air Force team, Drew was not expecting a chance to even participate. Unfortunately, the first-string wrestler was injured, giving Drew the chance to step up.
At the conference tournament in Kansas City, Missouri, Drew arrived guns blazing. He wrestled hard and he wrestled well, securing seventh place and a ticket to the NCAA Championships.
I know what you're wondering: What does it take to accomplish such a feat? Drew ascribes his success to all-around lifelong dedication. He stated:
In wrestling, I would say dedication is one of the biggest keys to success. Having that behind you makes you more dedicated throughout the rest of your life. Knowing that you can go through a tough wrestling practice makes you feel good about yourself. You feel more successful. You feel like you can achieve more and more. And as you stay dedicated, you realize you can accomplish whatever you dream of.
Drew started wrestling at a very young age, and it took him a long time to become successful in the sport. He dedicated a lot of his youth to wrestling; he sought mentorship from successful wrestlers and had the backing and support of his family throughout the entire endeavor. He attributes his family's support as a key factor to his success.
There are many ways that this dedication and other lessons learned through wrestling can translate to be beneficial in life. Drew noted that you always reach a point where you fail in wrestling; the key to overcoming this is learning from those failures, making yourself better and winning. We can all learn from this lesson because at some point, we are all bound to fail, and to succeed we must get back up to take another punch from life and learn and succeed.
Drew also stressed that there is a team aspect of the sport that translates to some of life's greatest challenges. Since the team is there for each other to build upon one's skills, they learn to be a true team player in all aspects. A wrestler looks at his peers and motivates them to be the best they can be.
Wrestling is not your average sport. It is grueling, painful and extremely rewarding. Cadet Drew Romero will graduate the Air Force Academy as a 2nd Lieutenant in 2018 with aspirations to be a Special Forces Airman. The challenges he has endured and the skills he has attained throughout his life of wrestling will launch him forward to achieve more than even he can imagine.
As Olympic gold medalist Dan Gable puts it: "Once you've wrestled, everything else in life is easy."
