Returning to the Mat

            Jimmy Tarpey has been here before. He remembers the atmosphere the way someone might recall a dream the moment after waking up. The smell of sweat that hangs in the air throughout practice. The yelling, the whistles, the grunts of defeat and the cheers of victory. The constant throbbing of your own heartbeat as you push yourself further than you thought was possible. This isn't just déjà vu for Tarpey. After taking two consecutive seasons off, he returned to the mat this year for his senior (and final) wrestling season.

            Following a successful high school wrestling career at Tewksbury Memorial High School where he won a Massachusetts All-State Championship, Tarpey decided to attend Plymouth State University and wrestle for former PSU head coach Tommy Prairie. After a relatively strong freshman season wrestling for the Panthers, Tarpey felt at his limit, both physically and mentally. "It was a lot harder (than high school). I was burnt out. I wanted a break from it," said Tarpey. He took off his wrestling shoes in February of 2009, and thought he would never need them again.

            The idea of returning to the sport that had once been such an integral part in his life blossomed gradually, after two full years of watching close friends and former teammates compete. "I guess I was kind of talked back into it by the guys (teammates)." Tarpey made his ultimate decision to return in October of 2011 (for the 2011-12 season), surprising himself as much as anyone else. "I didn't think I'd ever be back but," he grinned and shrugged his shoulders, "I was always thinking about it. That thought always seemed to be there."

            Returning to a sport as intense as wrestling, especially in an environment as competitive as collegiate athletics, is not an easy thing to do. Assistant (and former head) Plymouth State Wrestling coach and New England Wrestling Association Hall of Famer James Aguiar explained through the experience of his twenty year coaching career what a tough comeback Tarpey's has been. "I have never known any athlete who successfully came back after being gone from all collegiate competition for two full years. It is quite obvious that he (Tarpey) is a very talented athlete," said Aguiar. Not only has Jimmy Tarpey's comeback been a successful venture for the wrester, personally, but also for the Plymouth State Wrestling team. The Panthers have been able to witness, first-hand, Tarpey's full potential in a match that Coach Aguiar looks back on fondly. "Coach (Matt) Eldredge worked him into the lineup slowly and it paid off. In a nice up-set win over a strong Williams College team, a team which had beaten the Panthers earlier in the year, Jim (Tarpey) stepped up and pinned his opponent giving the team a sweet victory."    

The biggest question answered by Tarpey's return to the mat is how powerful the nature of competition can be in the mind of an athlete. "I just wanted to compete one last time. Just knowing that (after this season) I would never probably compete again." Tarpey will get the opportunity to compete in his first career New England Conference Championships on February 25^th, 2012 at Wesleyan University. It will mark one of the final tournaments of his career. Win or lose, though, the comeback itself seems to be a substantial victory. Booker T. Washington once wrote that a person should measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles they had to overcome to reach their goals. Tarpey is used to obstacles. After all, he's been here before.