Soon wrestling consumed me.

I think I understood from the beginning that wrestling isn’t something you do for fun. You do it because you need it. It turns out lots of kids do.

15 POUNDS BY SAM POLK 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 22

There was a time when wrestling was the reason I ate what I ate, slept when I slept, why I bleached my hair blonde, and wore black socks.

The summer before…