13 Second Victory

"When your match is short enough to be put on insta"

-Erin Brito

This story is going to be a lot longer than the match I'm writing about. Erin Brito put her video on Instagram and to the surprise of her, her friends and probably her opponent, the whole match was able to fit. That's what happens when you pin your opponent in 13 seconds.

Erin is a junior at Gaither High School in Florida. She's been wrestling for three years, and while she loves wrestling, her confidence level isn't that high. "I've honestly never been quite good at wrestling, I am much better at MMA (mixed martial arts)." For Erin, the losses piled up, "My coaches usually just put me in whatever weight they need me. For example my freshman year I weighed 106 but they put me at 120 for districts. I got my ass handed to me a lot because of this."

This is actually my favorite part about writing this book/blog. Unfortunately, girls records their first year tend to be filled with L's and not a lot of W's. Often times, they quit. The ones that come back a second year are hopeful for better results, but many times, they add a few W's, but they still lose a lot more than they win. Often times, they quit. So when a girl comes back a third season for wrestling...even after all the losses, its those type of girls I love to write about. And Erin is that girl.

Despite the losses, she kept her enthusiasm for the sport because Erin says, she doesn't have a choice. "I just have way to much pride for myself.  I beat myself up a lot when I lose but quitting is not an option. I can't do that when I've come so far. I know I'd regret it. I just keep trudging on cause every day is a new opportunity to flourish."

Which brings us to her big match. I say big, because it was. There were 11 teams competing and Erin was a little in awe. "I was nervous and excited since it was the first official meet of the season but there was so much competition! I don't think I've ever been to an 11 way."

Erin lost the first match of the meet, but true to her personality, she was not sulking. "I was just determined to leave with more victories than losses, and I knew I had to step up my game in order to do that. Go hard or go home." When Erin saw her opponent from Plant High School, she was excited. "He seemed like a good opponent to face. They're usually bigger despite being the same weight. But he looked closer to my height lol. It wasn't that it was unintimidating, it was just interesting to see someone looking more like they weigh what I weigh."

When I interview girls many of them have told me the boy was either too cocky, or too nervous before the match. Some even said they knew at the handshake to start the match that they would win, because their opponent gives a limp handshake. But Erin said, this wasn't the case here. "He shook hands firm and promptly like me; he carried himself like he was prepared for a match."

He wasn't the only one prepared. Typically a coach tells their wrestlers what to do before a match, but this time, Erin told her coach.

"I told my coach I was going to go straight for a head and arm as soon as the match starts." And that's exactly what she did.  "I attacked first and hit the top of his head and looked like I was setting something up, he opened his arms and I went for my head and arm hold and sat out to take him down with me ."

The turning point of the match came at the 4 second mark. Yes, the 4 second mark. Erin tried to pull her opponent down, and her opponent fought it.  Erin says, "He didn't come all the way down and still tried to get on my back."

If you stop the video at the four second mark, things aren't looking good for Erin, as it appears, her opponent has leverage and has her back. But looks can be deceiving, and Erin realized she had the upper hand. "I knew I had enough of his arm and head to pull him back over and finish it."

And that's exactly what she did. Erin outmuscled her opponent and by the 5 second mark, the boys head hit the mat and he was on his back after only six seconds.  There was no escaping, and Erin knew it. "I saw I had it, and I knew I was going to finish it. I had to. I pulled and got my pin in and just settled back onto him with my feet on the ground and squeezed till the ref called it."

After the ref slapped the mat, Erin couldn't help but slap it just a little bit harder. " I slapped the mat cause I got excited lol and was proud of myself." While other wrestlers try to be stoic after a victory, Erin couldn't hold off on her joy.  "I was honestly just blatantly happy. Seeing hard work pay off is such an amazing feeling and that was the quickest pin I've ever gotten. We got up and got back to the center and the ref raised my hand and I was just smiling all big. I told my opponent good match and shook his coaches hand before going back to my team."

For Erin, she's hoping the win propels her to bigger and better things. " It boosted my self esteem. That win started me on a pretty good note ya know? I like knowing I'm getting somewhere.

And if you think 13 seconds is fast, Erin says, she could do better. " If we rematched, I think we'd both try our best to win, but rematches are always sort of stressful and enticing . My goal would be to get a quicker pin then before."

As for her Instagram status..."When your match is short enough to be put on insta"...that wasn't meant to demean her opponent. "It was very cool to be able to get a match done so quick, I thought it was funny that it fit on Instagram so that was mainly just me entertaining myself lol."  As for her opponent, she wishes him luck going forward. "For me there isn't a difference in pinning boys or girls, a pin is a pin and a pin is a win... So I'm grateful regardless. Wrestling is a tough sport and I respect my opponents because we give it our all."

The longest video you could put on Instagram is 15 seconds. Maybe for the next story with Erin, she could put the whole match on the website Vine, which has a match length of 7 seconds. After all, as Erin says, " One thing I can't stand is not making progress."One thing I can't stand is not making progress."

Erin's Quick Pin