Wrestling411

Dear Mr. McCusker,
I am sending along a copy of an email I sent to Mr. Hasenfus. If you know of any one else I can send this along to, please let me know..I haven’t heard any news about the program..hopefully, we can do something about this.

Hello Mr. Hasenfus,

My name is Laura Sheedy. My son, Ned, was just accepted to Norwich University this week and is both thrilled and honored.

Never having wrestled before, he joined his freshman year in high school and wrestled on the JV team He hurt his back his sophomore year during football and was unable to wrestle until his junior year. He wrestled at 189 because one of the better guys on the team wrestled at 171, and Ned didn’t have a chance for a varsity spot at that weight …he took a beating at 189 , and came out all the stronger for it. Ned is now where he belongs at 171 and is having a great season.

I guess I am telling you all this because my husband and I have come to learn what wrestling is about, we believe that ,unless you wrestle, or have a loved one who does, one may never understand the sport.

One of the most important dimensions of wrestling is the parallel it has to life. The wrestler is given three two minute periods…one would think two minutes is a short time; however, wrestlers understand how time takes on a new dimension as it does when you look closely at life. An even more important element of wrestling is how it portraits life when, at one moment, you are on your back, vulnerable to a pin, and within seconds you can turn it around and win. Wrestling teaches lessons of humility that one can only hope their child will learn in life…it is even better when these lessons are learned at the high school and college levels. There are so many incredible facets of wrestling that contribute enormously to the making of strong, healthy, determined young men, and we are sure you are aware of them. We were thrilled that Norwich was able to offer wrestling, not just for our son, but for the sons of others as well.

If the University made a decision to eliminate the wrestling program, without reaching out to the community for help, it appears to us, that the people, who made this decision, do not understand the depth to which their actions reach. It is difficult to believe that a school of Norwich‘s caliber, would not allow the people who have a passion for this sport, the opportunity to save it.

We will probably be heading into more difficult financial times within the next couple of years; will they throw the towel in without a fight for other programs as well? Have they given thought to the message this is sending to the Norwich Academy community and other wrestling communities? Writing to these individuals to show our displeasure may prove to be fruitless, but if we were to contact them to see exactly what needs to be done to keep the program, we should be able to plan accordingly. At the high school level, purchasing a new mat always seemed to be a big task, but inch by inch we achieved the goal….we sold a lot of pizza along the way.

If there is some way we can form a group of committed individuals to do what needs to be done to keep Norwich’s wrestling program alive, please let us know. I understand how the program may be on its back for now, but if we can just hold on until the buzzer…we may be able to win this one.

Sincerely,

The Sheedy Family
781-799-4867