BIRMINGHAM -- Yesterday, Saturday, January 12th, 2008 at the Birmingham Metro South Duals, Thompson Middle School's Warrior Wrestlers brought home a FIRST PLACE Trophy!

It almost seems like a dream when you look back over last year's record of winning few and losing many. It wasn't pretty. This year there were changes, and I overheard other teams saying we were "a tough team to beat." Now we've proven we ARE the team to beat!

During the preliminary rounds, we were pooled with rival Oak Mountain Middle School and Team "X" - a mix of wrestlers from all competing teams. We won our pool by beating Oak Mountain 39 to 33, and topping Team X 72 to 4.

The championship rounds paired us first with Mountain Brook, who came in 2nd place in their pool with Hewitt-Trussville and Riverchase. Like a hot knife through butter, we cut through Mountain Brook 68 to 9. Next we wrestled Clay/Chalkville who were riding a high from beating Pizitz. The match with Clay/Chalkville proved to be no problem for our boys in black and red! We won 43 to 27.

The last round loomed and wouldn't you know it? We faced Oak Mountain again. When I attend tournaments, I try to write down every bit of information so I can put it on our web site later. Coach Glenn knows this, so he grabbed my notebook and had "prayer and praise" time with the boys, rehashing the Oak Mountain preliminary round's wins and losses. The coaches and boys returned to the mat with smiles.

Things started out with a bang, and after the 121-pound weight class, we were up 30 to 3. However, there were some changes ahead when Oak Mountain began pinning our boys. My son Josh was pacing the mat, although he pinned his 137-pound opponent, he worried, "We were too cocky. We were just too cocky and now we may lose."

The score was 36 to 21 when it came time for 157-pound Dave Capers to take the mat. He fought like Momma and Aunt Ruth at a floral housecoat sale at Wal-Mart! Seriously, he fought hard winning and giving points to his opponent. Late into the match after nine of my nails were chewed off - BOOM - he pinned his opponent to the mat; Dave's 6 points gave us the championship. We won just one of the last three matches, but you'd never know it since everyone was standing and screaming.

The final score was Thompson Middle 48, Oak Mountain 33.

Who woulda thunk the two-year-old team that came in 5th out of 12 at last year's duals would come in FIRST?

We parents thunk it. We know what our boys can do because we were there, supporting and watching them. We made sure they worked hard, attended practice, ate the right foods, and wore clean underwear. While some of us grumbled a bit over the vacation, monetary, work, physical, etc. sacrifices made this season, in the end we - as parents - know and respect sacrifice. Without it, we will not overcome.

With sacrifice, we go beyond our expectations and much sweeter are our victories. Of course our sacrifices dim when we acknowledge the greatest sacrifice made. With faith, Jesus' loving sacrifice saved us. How sweet is this victorious gift from God!

The foundation of the Alabaster Wrestling program began with the faith of one man - Glenn Albarado. With that steadfast faith and a great deal of commitment, determination and sacrifice, Alabaster Youth Wrestling Association, Thompson Middle School Wrestling, and Thompson High School Wrestling were created. I believe this is the reason why our teams will go far and be victorious. Our kids aren't just winning shiny pieces metal, they are winning life lessons of humility, work ethic, charity, responsibility, discipleship, mental toughness, integrity, and yes, faith.

Now if we could just get them to clean their rooms ...