10am Update: Compassion for an Opponent

I love this photo. To this day I kick myself for not getting their names. The Milford Mills wrestler, foreground, is all tore up after losing the 160 weight match against the Hereford wrestler in the background. This is all taking place during the Baltimore County championship meet Saturday February 23, 2008 at Parkville High School. For those of you who’ve never photographed a wrestling championship meet, it’s a crazy event and elimination-based. So and so will knock so in so down on the ranking tree. This one had three mats going at all times. These guys were wrestling for 3rd and 4th place. We don’t cover Milford Mills, and Hereford had plenty of guys in the championship matches. So, their bout wasn’t on my laundry list. But I’m absolutely stricken by how concerned the Hereford wrestler is for his opponent. In general, wrestling seems to inculcate a personality mix of stoicism and machismo. The really good wrestlers, despite winning or losing, appreciate a good match. Of course, emotions run high, too. It’s an intense sport. But I rarely see this kind of compassion for an opponent.

I’m shooting the same meet today — the 2010 edition — in a few hours. I’m glad I found this image to post as my (delayed) 10am Update, because it reminds me about how powerful the non-action can be. Wether or not the editors will run this kind of photo is a different story.

As usual, the 10am Update is a regular feature on my blog, showcasing images from my archives. Enjoy!

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 20th, 2010 at 12:02 pm. It is filed under 10AM Update, Photojournalism, SPORTS, The Patuxent Publishing Co. and tagged with 10AM Update, community journalism, high school, outtakes, photo, SPORTS, The Patuxent Publishing Co., wrestling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.