I truly believe that the greatest benefit of having wrestled isn’t the winning; it is being able to deal constructively with the pain and suffering of a loss.

Life is hard. As you get older, it seems the pain and suffering from losses pile up. And you have to fight through that. Every day. Every second.

Wrestling taught me that. Taking big losses in matches taught me that. Having a season go down the drain due to a small detail missed taught me that. Unfulfilled goals taught me that. To keep fighting when your tank is near empty, and the score is lopsided, taught me that.

Fighting no matter the score is paramount to a competitor.

There will be times in life when life will be up in the score by a wide margin.

There is a difference between exhaustion and surrender.

Keep fighting.

I last wrestled forty-two years ago, every single day of those forty two years I have fought, and will continue to fight, no matter the score, the pain, the suffering, or the loss.

Thank you, wrestling.

John Passaro