Hit The Mats

             From hunting to fishing, Joel Stevens may just seem like your average country boy, but this redneck has a state championship ring on his finger. Wrestling is a sport in which two opponents struggle hand to hand in order to pin or press each other's shoulders to the mat or ground, with the style, rules, and regulations differing widely in amateur and professional matches. Joel doesn’t compete in matches like WWE or TNA, where the matches are set up; he competed in real events where the results of the matches weren’t determined until the last person was pinned. His wrestling career was determined by many years of dedication and doing what was needed to compete.

            Stevens has put years of dedication into wrestling. He recently wrestled for Loris High School, but he has been wrestling for 7 years. He started wrestling to help get his anger out, and it worked. Joel jokes about being the only white boy on his team, but with a record like his, color doesn’t matter. Wrestling may seem easy, but it can be hard work.

            Many have heard of cutting weight - practice of rapid weight loss prior to a sporting competition - and ridiculous stories from it. There are stories of buying aluminum foil outfits or making them, to go sit in a hot car in a field, to melt away the weight, but that isn’t Stevens’ view on the matter. He worked the old fashioned way to lose his weight. He ran a lot and just cut back on eating. Before matches, he and his team would run around and stretch. They didn’t have any big speeches from their coach or a certain way to prep for the game. There wasn’t any special warm-up music or crazy bus stories. He was just an average guy, with his average team that made history that day for their school.

            In 2010, Stevens and his team both broke records. His team had won the state championship, but Joel himself had beaten the #2 guy in the state. He had pinned him in three minutes, with a score of 15-13. Loris High School finished their year with a record of 23-13. It may not seem like much, but Stevens’ and his teams’ dedication had finally paid off. They didn’t go out and have a huge celebration; it was just another day that made a huge impact on Stevens’ life.