By Addison Antonowicz
Student Writer
Addison Antonowicz is in 11th grade at Crooms Academy of Information Technology. I have lived in 3 states in 3 years; Florida, Idaho and Washington. I have 4 younger brothers. I am the oldest. I’ve always been involved in lots of sports and weightlifting. I have a dog named Gus, he is a vizsla and he is the sweetest.
Wrestling. Not the fake stuff you see on television. The Olympic sport. I believe that wrestling is one of the hardest sports out there. It pushes mentally and physically more than any other sport I've ever done. I started wrestling last year 2023-2024. I wrestled for Post Falls, ID. They have a great program. All the coaches there taught me a lot in just a short span of time. I will forever be grateful for that team. I remember being nervous joining the first day but that day I stepped on that mat my life changed for the better. I met great people on that mat. Whether they were my opponent or teammate. Truly wrestling helped me get through tough times. It taught me perseverance and that you will have to work to truly call yourself great. My first year wrestling I ended the season with 23 wins and 19 losses. Every loss was just a lesson and every win was that lesson being learned. That’s how I see it. This year I live in Florida and wrestle for Seminole. I was excited to show off what I've learned and what I was capable of. On November 5th, during practice I dislocated my knee. I ended up tearing my MCFL. When it happened I was lying on the ground with people all around me and the only thing I could think was that my season was over and how much I worked for this over the summer. The first thing I asked my coach, crying holding my knee, was if I could come watch at practice and help around after going to the doctor. He said, of course, I was relieved but not fully.
Over these three months all I’ve been thinking about is getting back on that mat proving that I'm able to jump back up on feet even after being hurt. I was cleared on January 8.. I've worked so hard to try to heal fast enough to get back into the season.
My dislocated knee taught me a lot of patience, with both my body and my health. I still am currently trying to heal my knee. In words, I will never be able to say how grateful I am that I found my sport and to have such an amazing team.
