By: Louie Head

Listen to Louie Head Thanking the Community

The second half of my wrestling season was one to remember; I made some school history as I became the first person at my school to make the state finals in wrestling. I was one win shy of the school’s total wins record, and I captured both records for team points and match point for my school. I am very honored and blessed to have been able to achieve such high honors and make my school and my community proud.

My success could not have been possible without all the love and support from everyone around me. Before I left for states, my school had a big sendoff that allowed me to get the weekend rolling in the right direction. It was such a good feeling to have all my fellow classmates in the hall cheering me on and it allowed me to know I had full support from all my friends and eased the tension tremendously. The support did not stop there; the whole way down I was receiving “Good Luck” messages and people telling me they were proud of me before I even did anything. The support was endless and, after I picked up the semifinals win, I had 150 Facebook notifications and 71 messages. It was crazy to know how many people were following and how many people I had on my side.

For the finals, The Cornerstone set up the live feed of my match and it was jam packed with people from all over the county. How could I not perform well knowing I had support from all corners of the county? It was incredible. Even though I lost and took home the silver, people did not stop with the love. On the way home, Warren had both sides of the street filled with people and signs cheering and yelling for me, and, when I arrived at Sugar Grove, I swear half of the town was there. There were fire trucks and so many people; it was amazing.

I cannot thank the community enough. From the good luck wishes to the big parade at the end, they made the experience 100 times better and it’s a memory I will have with me for the rest of my life. I wish I had enough time to personally thank every person who helped me along the way, but I would be saying thank you for the rest of 2016. So, a big thank you to my school for everything they did, to all of Warren County for giving me all the support in the world (even though I was from Eisenhower), and to Sugar Grove for the huge parade they put on. It was a weekend of a lifetime and I hope I inspired kids to work hard to reach their goals because nothing is too far out of reach.