Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Cory Asato | 170325-N-OO032-261 PORTLAND, Ore. (March 25, 2017) Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Bobby...... read more read more
Subscribe
SILVERDALE, Wash. – “Let’s go, let’s go! Thirty seconds left, it’s all or nothing,” yells the coach as both exhausted, cramping and shaking wrestlers push and fight, not giving an inch to each other.
Everyone is on there feet, pounding the stands. Seconds are ticking down as Yamashita clings to a slim 3-2 lead and is 20 seconds away from punching his ticket to the U.S. Greco-Roman World Team Trials.
Then the unthinkable happens, the Marine gets behind Yamashita and launches him for a devastating suplex, scoring five points. The Marine bench erupts in elation as the Navy sideline goes silent. One final dive and the buzzer sounds as Yamashita stares in disbelief with the agony of defeat.
Master-at-Arms 2nd Class Bobby Yamashita, from Glendale, Colorado, is living the life, training every day; his blood, sweat and tears smeared with grit across the mats. For six years, he’s been wrestling with the All-Navy team, training anywhere and everywhere – across the world – in pursuit of gold, to be called “champion.”
Instead of a hard fought victory over his opponent, Yamashita instead has to look himself in the mirror that night after another defeat and ask himself, “Do you still really want this?” Yamashita takes the night to rethink his strategy, how he’s going to overcome any obstacles and wrestle his way to the top.
Defeat can make or break many competitors. While it can cause some to slip into a downward spiral taking them off their track, Yamashita faces it with a different approach, telling himself not to dwell on the past, and always focus on the task at hand.
“I just go out there and wrestle,” said Yamashita. “It’s what I’m here to do in the first place.”
Yamashita faces any obstacle and setback as a wake-up call to realize what he should be prioritizing in his training and in his life.
To Yamashita, pursuing his passion can reap immense rewards, but is also fraught with many low points as each downfall and setback can lead to a reassessment of the path he chose to walk.
“I’ve competed in four [World Military Games, also known as the International Military Sports Council] with the Armed Forces Judo team, which took me to India, Brazil, Kazakhstan and South Korea,” said Yamashita recounting his years on the international circuit. “I’ve been in the All-Navy Wrestling program since 2009, where I met coach Ale, and then again in 2011 and 2014 through 2017 for a total of six years with the team.”
Mere acquaintances, Yamashita stood by the now head coach of the All-Navy Wrestling team, Chief Navy Diver Ale Delapeña III, a Benton City, Washington native assigned to the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, Division-Keyport, as Delapeña was cutting weight for his last year competing with the All-Navy team.
“I didn’t have that focus, to make weight that year,” said Delapeña, detailing one of his lowest moments on the team as Yamashita stood by him. “I’ve heard everything about [Yamashita] from Rob [Herman the former head coach who now coaches at Northern Michigan University, the U.S. Olympic training center for Greco-Roman wrestling] and I take his opinion highly.”
Delapeña continued to describe the passion Yamashita has for wrestling and the deep-seeded work ethic displayed day-in and day-out during practice. Yamashita currently serves as All-Navy Wrestling team captain so he focuses on driving the intensity of practice and motivating his teammates through the example he sets.
“Rob saw something in him and now I know exactly what he saw in him,” said Delapeña. “You can’t replace or force a person’s drive and hard work. He’s the same guy even if he’s hurting. There’s never an excuse and I could tell him, as a coach, that something is a crazy idea like running 25 hill sprints. Even if Yamashita’s body is breaking he’s going to go do it without question, just to put in that extra work, just for that little edge come game day.”
Yamashita competed most recently at the 2017 Armed Forces Championship, Feb. 25 and 26, representing the All-Navy team against the Army’s World Class Athlete Program, All-Marine Corps and All-Air Force wrestlers. He wrestled his normal 71 kilograms (156 pounds) in Greco-Roman wrestling Saturday and filled in last minute for a teammate, having to also wrestle up one weight class at 74 kilograms (163 pounds) in Freestyle wrestling the next day.
“My biggest motivating factor is that incredible, euphoric feeling, that thrill you get when you accomplish a great feat. Watching great athletes, like Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali during ‘The Fight of the Century’ at Madison Square Garden, March 8, 1971, who together left an imprint on society and American culture in pursuit of their dreams and I wonder how did that just feel,” said Yamashita, envisioning himself as an underdog as the Navy does not currently offer a year-round training program like some of the service counterparts. “I don’t take things for granted. I see Bahrain and their country nationals and life and while I think I may have it tough at times, I realize these people are fighting everyday for their next meal and I know [the people of Bahrain would] be grateful to be in our position.”
That weekend he fell short. In a similar sense, while Yamashita wrestles not just as a passion, he wrestles against something much more, he wrestles against himself – constantly reassessing his drive, validating that he wants it, that he’s willing to do what it takes to take home the gold – “Go big or go home,” exclaims Yamashita.
Last Fall, Yamashita’s father got sick before eventually passing and he had to take emergency leave flying home to the states from Bahrain. He still took that opportunity to compete in Judo tournaments while stateside. He then had an epiphany.
“My dad’s definitely a proud father and bragged about me all the time,” said Yamashita. “He would even brag about me taking fourth place at the armed forces, while not mentioning that there were only four people there [competing in each weight class]. In general, he was no pressure – He was always proud of me.”
“He would be the guy that would talk to anybody and everybody, just random people,” Yamashita explained further. “He would even approach [Judo Olympic gold medalist and] world champion Kayla Harrison not knowing she’s a world champ [and talk to her about me]. Watching high school tournaments even when I’m [not there competing,] he just socialized and made random people laugh because it’s what he loved to do.”
The morning of his father’s passing, Yamashita posted on his Facebook, “ My dad passed away the morning of Oct. 11 from colon cancer. He was such a loving father, [who] took so much pride in being an amazing pumpkin and vegetable farmer. [He was a] kind hearted soul to all his friends and random strangers, who he would just make laugh non-stop and just lived life so happy and carefree. Thank you for all the wonderful memories and never leaving me. I love you [dad].”
Having lost his father to cancer made him realize how much he took his father for granted, recalled Yamashita. “ I wasn’t there for my dad in an emotional sense, I was selfish for myself. If I have an option to keep in contact with my dad or do something else it was always what I wanted to do.”
“I now realize people, like my dad, should be number one [to me] – people you love. How you spend your time with people you love [is critical], you can spend a million dollars on your loved ones but time is the most precious gift because it definitely means the most,” said Yamashita. “[I’ve] always thought I took nothing for granted before my father’s passing.”
Yamashita noted that the, “Biggest thrill I felt was making All-American as [I] placed 6th at the Greco-Roman National Championship in 2015, quickly realizing the [feat] was nothing, in terms of an accomplishment. At the next U.S. Open I went 0-2 and that was an Olympic trial qualifier for the Rio games.”
Yamashita then reflected again on his milestones and setbacks as he gears up for another season of competition.
“Nothing that happens is going to be the same without my dad,” said Yamashita. “I could be the Olympic champ, but no accomplishments would be that same without him. No amount of money or accolades will bring him back to me. A lot of guys will tell me ‘man your dad’s so cool’ and ask about him all the time. I never gave it a second thought but now I realize those were all genuine as he was the life of the party anywhere and everywhere.”
While losing his father brought much grief, Yamashita is back and working on his goals, to be a champion, as he’s always done.
“Without a doubt each step up the mountain makes me hungrier,” said Yamashita. “Everything is just a stepping stone for me to achieve 2020 Olympic gold in Tokyo. That’s why you wrestle, not because it’s a hobby or it’s easy, because it means something – all the sweat, blood and tears you shed mixed with all of the grit and pain you go through.”
Yamashita is now deep in training camp alongside his fellow All-Navy wrestlers at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington, for the upcoming U.S. Open: Grappling World Team Trials, April 27 through 29 in Las Vegas.
“I think I need to throw away my game plan and start from scratch,” said Yamashita. “I feel stagnant based on my results at the moment. I feel that I’m wrestling scared, wrestling not to lose. Maybe I have to take a couple steps backwards and broaden my perspective. Someway, somehow I just need to figure it out.”
Yamashita reflects on what has played through many wrestlers’ minds their last loss.
“I was 15 seconds from defeating that Marine, I thought I worked hard this camp,” said Yamashita. “But honestly I can’t look at my coaches and teammates and tell them I gave it all I had because I know I could’ve done more but I just didn’t. I was too comfortable at times. That Air Force wrestler, in Greco, wanted it more than me and when he had the lead, he didn’t coast, he took the fight to me and didn’t give me a chance.”
Yamashita is faced with roadblocks that stall many people, whether they are personal or professional. The difference according to his shipmates, teammates and family members is that he does not quit.
| Date Taken: | 03.31.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 03.31.2017 17:42 |
| Story ID: | 228833 |
| Location: | SILVERDALE, WA, US |
| Hometown: | BENTON CITY, WA, US |
| Hometown: | GLENDALE, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 407 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Bahrain Sailor wrestles All-Navy, by PO1 Cory Asato, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT