The Girl in the Wrestling Shoes

Prologue

10-2. She looked up for a moment, the green number catching her eye.
She knew what she had to do.
The ref blew the whistle, her attention snapping back to the match. This was everything. Any distractions- could cost her everything.
"40 seconds left-" An older man from the head table called out, and snapped his attention back to the scoreboard.

"Bottom!"

Her coach yelled from the sidelines, himself in a worried state. He hoped it wasn't showing to his wrestler.

"Bottom." She told the ref.

"Bottom man set." He looked at her, making sure she was ready. He too, couldn't believe that a female has made it this far.
She knew everyone was watching her, studying her,
seeing what she was going to do next.

Not many girls were in her position. Or maybe, ever in this position. The girl was winning, up by 8 points. A big feat. The whistle blew, and she immediately tried to stand up.

"Up, UP Cobra! Drive up, using your butt, and push into him! We've been over this before!"
Her coach screamed with all of his might. God, even he knew, deep in his mind, that this was going to end bad.
Very bad.
Her arms and legs were tired- she felt as if she couldn't do it anymore. For her age, she was small, wrestling at 95 pounds. She thought of the few miles that she had ran earlier this week, prepping for this day.
Finally, she stood up, turning around quickly to face him.
"One point!"
The ref called to the table.
11-2.
"30 seconds!"

"Timeout! Johnny, get over here!"
The boys coach waved his hands into the air, stopping the match. The boy ran over to his coach, getting into a headed discussion.
"Cobra, come here."
Her coach whispered in her ear. She could feel his nervousness through his speech.
"30 seconds, ride him out, stall. Go."
He smacked her back, and she refastened her headgear, and got back out on the green line.
There was a pregnant pause in the arena, as if everyone was waiting for this moment.

It would be all over in 30 seconds.

The girl got in position, looking up at the ref. He blew the whistle, and she tried to do a switch, also known as a reversal, worth two points. Her coach shook his head. That wasn't the original plan. That wasn't what they talked about. Hell, it wasn't even a move she was fully comfortable with doing.
"Up!" He yelled once more.
She got one foot up, but the kid was like a brick wall at that moment, his heart in the match. His mind in the match. He wanted to win.
She focused on winning- she would make state history, like the towns newspaper had made her a star- front page, from sectionals, regionals, to this.
She would be the first female in state history to win a title.
If she lost, she would get nothing.
Walk out of here like a loser.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the kid threw a leg in. Her mind was racing as she thought what to do next.
Stall.
"15 seconds-"
Her arms were going to give up any second, and somehow, the kid flipped her over. All of her willpower seemed to fly away from her.

Cobra was now on her back.

"NO!" her coach screamed from the sidelines. He was jumping up and down, cheeks flushed.

"FLIP OVER SAVANNAH!"

"No-"

He wrapped his arm around her head and put all of his weight on her. It was as if everything in time, had stopped. There was nothing she could do as she struggled to get out, flip back over.
The ref was on his stomach, whistle in mouth. He was watching this precisely.

" 5 seconds-"

The timer seemed to be ticking down in slow motion. The referee was now calling for back points, and it was at that moment, she knew.

It was over.

"1.., 2, .. 3!"
He slammed the mat as hard as he could, and the place fell silent. The place, was silent.
"Way to go, Johnny!"

The exhausted boy walked off and fell into his coaches arms, smiling, exhausted.
Lights flashed-

All Savannah could do was lay on the mat, speechless. Out of breath as well.
Savannah tried to look up at the ceiling, but she couldn't. It was becoming very hard to see.
"Get up, Cobra."
Her coach had his hands in his brown hair, speechless as well. He had to keep his cool for her, he didn't want her to see him break.
With all of her might, she found the courage to stand up. It wasn't much.
Johnny stood next to the ref, smiling.
Pictures flashed all around her, but she drowned them out. It didn't matter at this moment. None of it mattered anyway. She walked slowly over to the line as everyone watched.
The ref was all smiles as he raised his hand.
People cheered, but not how they wanted to. They came to see history being made.
"Good job Savannah-"
Someone told her as she walked over to her coach.
She fell into his arms, tears in her bright blue eyes. The girl buried herself into him, and he placed his hands over her, hugging her tightly. He mumbled a few words to her.
"It's alright, cobra. You still made history anyway, taking second. I am so proud of you."
She couldn't get anything out. How could she?
Collapsing, she fell to the mat, sobbing this time.
Her headgear fell, and she felt eyes watching her. She worked hard for this, training every day. Practicing moves until she was exhausted, spending countless hours in that wrestling room- all for this day.
Being only 11, she had a future ahead of her. A good one, too.
"Get up Savannah."
Her dad finally walked over, placing his hand on her still sweaty back. He felt a sense of pride and disappointment for his child.
"You need to get up."
She couldn't.

This wasn't just some regular wrestling match.

It was her state championship match, that's why.

*** EDITED, November 4th, 2015