Ryan Wallace

Coach Ryan Wallace
South Tahoe High School

Picture Courtesy of Ryan Wallace
Capacity to Adapt
Unrivaled in their capacity to shape and reveal a person’s true character, participation in combat sports is a gift that continues to give even, or in some cases especially, when they are taken away. My belief in the veracity of this statement is evident by the 18 plus years I have spent coaching wrestling and grappling year-round, after 12 years of competing through school. 2020/21 (Covid-19) marks the third time wrestling has been completely taken from me, for an extended period. I am extremely grateful for the first two, for allowing me, to trust in the same core values that guided me through those challenges.
 
During my Senior year, a rare instance of bone tumors caused fractures in my shin forcing me to miss most of the season, and causing me to compete in complete agony the few matches I did get in. At that time, my sense of self-worth was completely tied to athletic accomplishments and physical prowess. My life’s purpose was to win a State Title and continue a career wrestling at the college level. The tumors eventually led to a potentially lifesaving amputation and a complete reconstruction of my goals, the concept of myself, and my purpose and vision.
 
First, without wrestling and the knee injury I had previously suffered, the tumors likely would have gone undiagnosed. Due to that, I attribute wrestling as my literal “lifesaver.” Similarly, wrestling was also a metaphorical savior in that I was invited to be a part of the coaching staff at South Tahoe High School, shortly after the amputation. I quickly learned that my perseverance through this obstacle provided a motivational boost to the athletes in my charge, a realization that compelled me to push forward in pursuit of bigger challenges. Wrestling had instilled grit in me, an attribute possessed by a multitude of successful people. Quickly, one of the most valuable lessons I now had in hand and which I was to impart, was that even when you do everything right, things out of your control can affect the outcome. Therefore, it is not about generating a particular result, it is about the person you are creating when living the lifestyle and building the habits of someone worthy of your desired result. Secondly, from all the previous years in sports, I learned that a successful athlete or person, does not let one disappointing set-back negatively impact future performance, or diminish one’s ambition.
 
Fortunately, now I have two decades in the sport–post amputation–that encompass competing, coaching and being a fan, to allow recognition that there are many opportunities beyond school. Countless times one of my past teammates or past students has returned to our room to impart wisdom, or encouragement, to current wrestlers. The ones who suffered big losses, had injuries or made mistakes that cost them mat times always have the same paraphrased message, “keep pushing through it and recognize how tough you can be.” This compels me to preach the importance of using our heartbreaking experiences to help others cherish the times when things are “going good.” Also, and perhaps more significantly, that in the moment events that appear to be catastrophic “end of the world” are, in fact, actually opening a world of chances to prove how determined, resilient, adaptive and tough a human can be.
 
Within those two decades I lost wrestling again, in a yard work accident. I broke my prosthetic leg and severely injured my “good foot.” This time I felt the loss much more profoundly because I was not the only one impacted. My life centered around coaching wrestling and the relationships built within that context. Unable to afford a new prosthetic, requiring multiple procedures on my foot, and worse, unable to coach; I was mentally low, financially stressed, and lonely. An undeniably physically painful and emotionally draining period, but as the theme of this article would suggest, it manifested a deeply uplifting and enlightening experience.
 
Spearheaded by the wrestling team, there was a video produced and a community-wide fundraising effort, to purchase me a state-of-the-art prosthetic. Rapidly the donations and compliments poured in, each time refueling my spirit. Even though I didn’t feel I deserved it, I vowed to prove to everyone that their effort was worth it. I put the name of every contributor on my prosthetic, which still serves me well as a powerful motivational element. Continually re-watching the video and reading the comments attached to donations, I discovered a surprising detail that has influenced almost every coaching decision I have made since. The kids who professed to have been positively impacted the most from the sport and me, and who worked the hardest to raise funds, was comprised of an unexpected group. It was the kids who had struggled the most in terms of wins and losses, the kids who–if you had asked me prior to that point, I’d have told you they “didn’t get it.” Even despite a misguided focus on winning, there were athletes on the fringes gaining more than I could have imagined. Subsequent this epiphany, my coaching has been centered on using every single opportunity to teach “every” single kid in the room, and to that end, dramatically broaden our recruiting scope. We have also de-emphasized winning and stressed building high character traits. A win and loss are the exact same thing to us, they are both a reason to work harder. The result of this approach has been an explosion of the sport’s local popularity. It has opened many previously closed doors. The bonds built between the athletes and coaches are much stronger, and as a happy side effect, we’ve enjoyed more on mat success as well.
 
South Lake Tahoe sits on the border of Nevada and California, and due to westward travel being nearly impossible in the winter months and closer proximity to larger Nevada populations, we compete in Nevada and are a part of the Nevada Interscholastic Athletic Association (NIAA). There are many benefits to this arrangement, particularly in the form of competition. There is an unmistakable hardiness to Northern Nevadans, a quality that shines through in a sport that requires an abundance of the aforementioned grit and perseverance. As a coach, competitor, and fan of fortitude, I am grateful for the isolated high-desert communities that welcome all challengers. They import road weary travelers, and export toughness. The only downside of this dual state membership is that we often must comply with an additional set of rules set by California, and we often have a different vacation schedule than our Battle Born counterparts.
 
Currently we are sidelined again, part of our challenge in returning from Covid-19 is that we must clear two hurdles requiring both California, and Nevada, to remove wrestling from the “no play list.” Leaving us unable to access the character shaping forge that is a quest for a high school state championship, absent is the alternation between stress and triumph that permanently strengthens a wrestler’s will like iron. We however are adopting the simple and admittedly corny mantra of, “test negative, stay positive.” In crisis, revert to one’s core values. Mine, and as an extension of me, our program’s core values are integrity, adaptability, mental toughness, and determination.
 
I will leave you with the exact message I gave to our middle school and high teams both amid the shutdowns last season, and again after receiving the news that the season would be postponed or cancelled this year.
 
Sports are designed to be “made up sample problems” so that, outside of the simulation, we know how to handle “real” problems. There has been a tremendous amount of hard work put into this season and our individual goals, so losing opportunities to show that hard work in matches, may seem like a disappointment. However, it is in fact, an opportunity for us to demonstrate the lessons we have learned in a much more profound way. This is the perfect chance to test the depth of our determination, our capacity to adapt, the sincerity of our motivation, and the endurance of our enthusiasm. South Tahoe Wrestlers will set the example in the community, of how to react to adverse circumstance. This is the actual type of thing we’ve been preparing for.