Southern Arkansas Wrestling Academy

02/06/2025

When you have a minute please give us a review!

01/26/2025

The U.S. OPEN is gonna be packed this year thanks to DJT.
🤣

01/26/2025

01/24/2025

01/01/2025

Yes!

An Open letter to my kids about Struggling and Failure....

Struggle is a part of life, and a good part at that. Struggle is the stronghold between mercy and grace- not receiving something we deserve and not deserving something we receive.

I will not protect you from your struggling and I'm doing my job as a parent by doing so. See as parents, if we are all honest, our fear of our child's failure is not because we worry about how you will react ( because we all know kids are way more resilient than we allow them to be) , but because of our own fear of how it reflect upon us. As if God made you to be a reflection of me- well he didn't - your success or failure has no impact on my life because I'll be cheering for you regardless.

From struggle comes growth, from struggle comes fight, from struggle comes understanding, from struggle comes all the blessings that God has in store for us. There is a reason why we can't have joy without suffering and vice versa.

It's because of struggle that we make decisions. It’s because of struggle we choose to give up or we give in accepting that it can be done a different way than how we have been attempting it.

See failure is an option. Without failure we can't truly experience success. Success without failure lacks appreciation, lacks humility, lacks the drive to push beyond the limits people impose on us or we impose on ourselves.

When people say failure is not an option it begins to teach you that failure is bad, that it's not something you want to be a part of, or it's not something you are allowed to be a part of.

Then it happens, just like everyone else on this amazing planet, just like your mom numerous times....you find yourself there. The place they told you you shouldn't be, or aren’t allowed to be, and because of what they said you panic, you freeze, and you don't know how to move on.

No at the end of the day I will never say failure is not an option, because If you failed that means you tried something, you chose to go beyond your current limits, you chose to not let fear dictate your life.

Struggle is good- struggle and failure keep us wanting more. So as a parent no matter how hard it is to watch you struggle, I will not wish it away because I have seen and experienced what comes from it. No, I'll be looking for you to fail, more times than not, because then I know I've succeeded as a parent. I’ll know that you did not play it safe, you did not settle for whatever everyone else was doing, and I've taught you how to get back up and try again.

love,
your mom

Originally written in 2019 and reposted every year. Learning to fall in love with the benefits of failure.

12/21/2024

We just out here trying to create opportunities and grow our sport.

Our girls team of 2 is weighed in and ready for a fun night of wrestling in Maumelle!

12/03/2024

Day 17 Wrestling Poem
I held off posting this one, I wrote this for my dad a few years ago, and it means so much to me!


"Why I Wrestle"
by Jon Gums - Dakota Grappler

Why do I wrestle?
Why do I wake before the sun,
Dragging my weary bones
To a room where sweat baptizes the walls,
Where echoes of pain and pride intertwine?
Why do I push beyond what my body screams it cannot bear?

I wrestle because the mirror does not lie.
It shows me who I am
And who I refuse to remain.
Each drop of sweat, a confession.
Each gasp for air, a prayer for redemption.

I wrestle because silence speaks louder than noise.
Alone, on the edge of the mat,
I find truths too raw to share.
In solitude, I am stripped of masks,
Faced only with the man I am
And the man I could become.

I wrestle because life is a fight,
And I’d rather learn its lessons now—
On the mat, where defeat is temporary,
Where bruises heal but pride endures.
I wrestle to meet my fears face to face,
And pin them to the ground.

I wrestle because I crave the storm.
The chaos, the struggle, the uncertainty.
It’s in the eye of the storm where I find myself,
Where lightning strikes my soul
And thunder shakes my doubt.

I wrestle because tears do not make me weak.
They make me honest.
When I fall, when I lose, when I fail,
My tears water the seeds of resilience.
And when I rise, I rise stronger.

I wrestle because nothing worth having comes easy.
This grind, this ache, this loneliness—
They are the price of truth.
I wrestle because I cannot lie to myself.
Not here. Not now. Not ever.

Dangerous is the man who walks alone,
For he knows the weight of solitude.
But he also knows the power of his stride,
The strength born of isolation.

Why do I wrestle?
Because I am not afraid of who I am.
I am not afraid to grow,
To stumble, to fail, to fight again.
I wrestle because this is my truth.
This is my fire.
This is my life.

11/25/2024

Practice at 1:00 tomorrow.