Baseball teams. Basketball teams. Football teams. Sports are all about working together with other athletes.
Wrestling is a little different, though.
There is one representative from each of two schools on the mat at one time.
Teammates may be cheering from the sidelines, but the athletes are there to succeed or fail by themselves.
Oakwood senior Mason Ajster is no exception.
He began wrestling at the age of 5 because his parents wanted him to try the sport. Working his way through eight years in the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation, Ajster found success.
In fact, he came into his freshmen year as a self-proclaimed “punk.”
“My attitude was I was good and I didn’t need to get any better,” he said.”I was going to show up and just win.”
But through what he described as an “average” season as a ninth-grader, and an illness that sidelined him for what would have been his first IHSA regional appearance, Ajster realized that wrestling was more than just about what he could do as an athlete.
He decided to put the work in, to stay focused, and to make it to state as a sophomore.
“No one had even put me on their radar to make it to state,” he said.
After winning regionals that year, he came into the sectional competition and suffered his first ever postseason loss. Ajster ended up wrestling back to qualify for state.
“That was really a turning point for me,” he said.
As a junior, Ajster again qualified for state, making it to the blood round where he was defeated.
Now, as a senior with a 30-6 record, Ajster has captured the IHSA Class 1A Sectional title and will compete at the IHSA State Finals, starting on Thursday at the University of Illinois’ State Farm Center.
But Ajster knows that while he will be on the mat, there is a whole community of people who will be there with him.
“Anything I do would not be possible without the support I’ve had throughout my life and my whole high school career,” he said.
“There are times when I get down or times when my behavior on the mat might have cost me. Had my family not been there to correct some of the mistakes that I’ve made, there’s no way I’d be in the position that I’m in.”
He knows that his success is also on the back of coaches who have pushed him to become a better athlete and a better person everyday, too.
As Ajster works his way to what he hopes to be the podium over the weekend, he will be thinking about all those who came before and will come after him.
“I can give my team a voice, he said. “We did some really awesome things this year. I don’t think they would have been possible without my other upperclassmen. I had the privilege of having four other seniors with me, which is a high number for our school.”
Ajster said that the senior class worked throughout football season to bring hope to the program. He believes that the upperclassmen have also done that for the wrestling program over the last couple months.
With four coaches who Ajster believes are working for the betterment of each athlete and the program as a whole, he is excited to see where the program might go.
He also hopes that making it to state three times might light a fire for the younger wrestlers.
“If you’re going for a medal for yourself, you’re doing that for you,” he said. “You have to start looking at it for other people. Do I want to win a state title because I want to do it for myself, or do I want to win a state title because I want to do it for my team, for my last name, for my school or the younger grades?
“They can look at it and say, ‘Hey, why not me?’ ”
“I can leave, but my name will still live here,” he continued. “It can be a constant reminder that it’s possible.”
Ajster said he often hears his fellow classmates talk about how Oakwood High School does not make it to the championship round.
“I always hear students that say it’s not possible or that will be so hard, but why not us?” he asked.
“Someone’s got to win a state title, why not me? That’s how I’ve always looked at it.”
Having been at the state tournament before, Ajster knows that he has to block out all the hype and just do his job.
“I’ve been in this position before. I failed because I let pressure and nerves get to me,” he said. “This year I’m just going to leave everything out that I have.
“I know what to do. I know what to expect. I just have to get out there and get it done.”
While Ajster hopes to capture a place on the podium this weekend,he knows the sport of wrestling has given him a gift of discipline that he will carry on throughout his lifetime.
Whether it’s arriving at the school at 4 a.m. to weigh in, shed a few pounds, then weigh in again before getting on the bus, to spending his Saturdays wrestling, Ajster said the sacrifice, dedication and discipline he has learned through wrestling will serve him well as he begins his next journey in life.
Ajster will leave Oakwood in July to join the Army with the hopes of becoming a Ranger in the 75th Ranger Regiment.
“Any adversity that you walk into through life, this sport teaches you things you wouldn’t think are possible,” he said.
“This sport is one of the hardest things that I’ve ever done, but at the same time, it’s a constant grind that I would never give up in a million years.”
