Ethan in 8th grade. Placed 3rd at a tournament.

Ethan placed 3rd at Districts.

When Ethan was in the 7th grade he asked me if he could wrestle. I instantly told him, “no”! I didn’t even have to think a second about it. Ethan was a very shy and timid child. He wasn’t rough or aggressive. He was kind, sweet, and thoughtful. He had been playing lacrosse since the third grade. He loved it! We had to encourage him to be aggressive on the lacrosse team by paying him for penalties! There was no way he could wrestle. I mean wrestling has blood time and injury time! How many sports have blood time?!

My husband was a wrestler when he was in school. (I was a “stat girl”.) It was amazing. I got to go to every one of his tournaments to watch him and support the team. At first, I was disgusted by wrestling. I mean…sweaty guys wrestling each other ALL day long! They starve themselves for months out of the year watching everything they eat. They used trash bags to make themselves sweat to lose additional weight. I could go on and on about the things that made me angry. But, I loved the actual sport by the end of the first season for many other reasons.

Luke and I decided it would be good for Ethan to wrestle. He needed to learn lessons that wrestling would teach him. Hard work. Dedication. Endurance. Team work. Trust. Ethan started wrestling in the 7th grade. Many of his teammates started in the 3rd grade. He was behind. He had to work hard to try to catch up. By 8th grade he was starting to get a grasp and he was placing at tournaments.

Then high school came and the gap was even bigger. Ethan continued to work hard and give it his all. It was extremely discouraging for him. When you work hard, you expect to have a form of a reward and he did not get it. He still loved wrestling. It was just very discouraging. At the end of the season he had decided he was not going to wrestle the next year.

Ethan shared with the coach that he would no longer be wrestling and that this was his last season. His coach met with him to discuss his decision. Coach Watson had asked him why he wanted to give up wrestling. He shared about how if you don’t preserver now, it will be harder to preserver in the real world. He shared that if you do the right things now, this sport will teach you discipline, hard work, and a positive mind. Ethan decided to give it another shot. But, he was determined to be a state qualifier.

Sophomore year came and it was even tougher. He was at every AM and PM practice and continued to struggle. His loses were more than his wins. By the end of the season, we knew we needed to up our game and add in additional things such as camps and gym memberships. He was willing to give up lacrosse to focus on wrestling.

Junior year things started to click. His game was on! The hard work was starting to pay off! He continued with AM and PM practices. Went to club twice a week. We did summer tournaments, camps, and summer club. Ethan’s determination paid off and he not only made Districts, but he also reached his goal of going to STATES!

Junior Year States 2024

3 Generations of Kuhns Wrestlers

Ethan’s has been on fire his senior year. He has been doing amazing. His hard work, dedication, and heart of passion has taken him to Districts and States again this year. We are proud of his hard work and his perseverance. I believe it says a lot about a his character. Ethan never gave up on his dream. He pushed hard and he made it come true.

Ethan senior year at Districts.

Why do we love wrestling? It is a family. They/we are a unit. They/we stick together and everyone helps one another. It is the comradery. They are dedicated to waking up every morning to get a workout in before school and then to practice after school. Then they go to wrestling club twice a week after practice. That isn’t counting the weekend tournaments that include two days a week. Sometimes going in on Sunday to get an extra lift or cardio. They have to watch their weight. This includes eating right and balancing a diet with hydration. They have tournaments Friday/Saturday/and sometimes on Sunday. They spend the night in hotels together. They even hang out after they are done with wrestling. This boy of mins is no longer shy and timid. He is big and strong. He is a force to be reckoned with. And, he belongs to a brotherhood.

Your dad and I are your biggest fans! We love you so much and can’t wait to see where you decide to go to school. We are proud of you and all your accomplishments. Always remember to be kind. I love you!