By CARL BLOMGREN

For The Beachcomber

When Henry David Thoreau said, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation,” we could paraphrase that to read “wrestlers lead lives of quiet desperation.”

Six minutes — three two-minute rounds — to overcome another featherless biped who is intent on doing the same to you on a mat, without a weapon of any kind, in view of an audience of one to 500 fans. So how do you prepare yourself for such an engagement? Join a Vashon wrestling club.

The Vashon wrestling team opened the dual meet season with a 4-0 record, beating Rainier High School last Friday, 60-18, before departing to Bellevue the next morning for a triple dual meet.

Once there, the Pirates defeated Nooksack Valley 43-33 in the opening match, followed by a 54-21 win over Meridian and a 60-12 thumping of Bellevue Christian.

Much to the delight of their coaches, the Pirates improve each match. Sam Chapman, Keegan Shrum, Rogen Lopez, Geran Webb and Jesse Mish are undefeated at 4-0. Madeleine Wolczko, Dominick Stemer, Eddie Protzeller and Sylvie Shiosaki have lost one match. Young wrestlers to watch are Elliot Ellingsen, Devin Forest and Max Croonquist.

The next home match is Thursday, Dec. 11, against the Trojans from Fife High School. JV matches begin at 6 p.m.; varsity begins at 7 p.m. See ya there!

— Carl Blomgren is the father of Pirate wrestling coaches Anders and

Per-Lars Blomgren.