6 Minutes Of Glory Earns Ocean County Wrestler High Praise

AUDUBON, NJ -- It is sometimes called the toughest six minutes in sports.

Two wrestlers facing off on the mat -- athletes who’ve sacrificed nights out for workouts, skipped French fries in favor of carrots to make weight, and pushied through aches, pains and injuries -- to fight through six minutes to claim victory.

An Ocean County wrestler reminded everyone that sometimes the glory of those six minutes isn’t in the victory but in how you compete.

Jerald Goodman, who wrestles in the 195-pound weight class for Jackson Liberty High School, spent six minutes on the mat Saturday afternoon with Audubon wrestler Michael Arechavala, who was wrestling his first varsity bout.

For three 2-minute periods, the two dueled -- Arechavala scoring points, Goodman answering with points of his own -- until Goodman won 19-16.

But the score really wasn’t the important part of the story.

Arechavala, you see, has Down syndrome. Goodman’s mother, Annemarie, tells the story in a Facebook post from Sunday that she’s shared publicly:

“Jerald was approached along with Coach Eddy (and asked) if he wouldn’t mind giving one of their wrestlers a chance to wrestle varsity,” she wrote. ”Mike’s coach said its okay if you pin him, he’s just never been given to the opportunity to wrestle varsity. ... Jerald said I won’t pin him.

“He gave Mike his 6 minutes of glory on the wrestling mat. Even though Jerald easily could of racked up 15 points in a matter of moments, he allowed Mike to score points on him and made sure he had his 6 minutes of glory,” Annemarie Goodman wrote.

She said she had no idea what was happening until her son and Arechavala took the mat. She said she saw the coaches talking, and then talking to her son, and then talking with the referee, before the bout -- the last one of the match -- got underway.

“I saw him shake his head ‘no’ but I had no idea why,” she said of Jerald, or J.J., as she calls him.

The ”no” she later found out was in response to the statement that he could pin Arechavala, she said.

“He said, ‘He’s a wrestler just like me,’ ” she said. ” ‘He deserves a chance too,’ “

Jackson Liberty coach Mike Epps said it’s not the first time a Liberty wrestler has wrestled against a special needs wrestler.

“It’s a good thing to do,” he said. “Sometimes you just have that opportunity to give back.”

“You see on TV all the time where pro athletes give experiences like this to children,” Eddy said, adding that he sees this as no different.

Annemarie Goodman said for the audience, however, watching her son -- who’s normally a beast on the mat -- wrestle Arechavala with gentleness, allowing him to score, and experience a bout in a match, left people in tears.

“Lots of times you see this and the special needs wrestler gets pinned right away,” she said.

“Watching Mike smile for those 6 minutes warmed my heart,” Annemarie Goodman said. “Watching my son be so gentle with him and giving Mike his chance to do what he loves; the hug they gave each other was priceless.”

“That smile will never leave my memory. It was a wrestling moment I will never forget,” she said.

Her post has been shared more than 800 times as of Monday evening.

J.J. Goodman, a senior for the Lions, is 11-2 so far this season, certainly with hopes of glory at the end of the season on the mats in Atlantic City at the state individual championships. But few moments will top Saturday, his mother said,

“No matter how many medals he wins, no matter how many trophies, this will always be special,” his mother said.

(Photos and video courtesy of Annemarie and Alan Goodman)