JP had been asking me all year to come to one of his wrestling matches. In fact, he tried getting everyone in band to go. He probably wanted to show everyone how he fought. Unfortunately, most of his matches either fell on days in which I was busy or were too far away to drive conveniently. Finally, in mid-February, one date came up that was perfect. I brought a girlfriend of mine with me. (She gladly said yes, saying that she wouldn't mind seeing a bunch of tight butts in spandex.) The match was on a Saturday afternoon in our high school. I arrived and immediately spotted a teacher I had had last year. I went over to her and asked if I could sit near her. I knew she was a big fan of the wrestling team and knew almost all of the wrestlers, including JP. Of course, because her husband coached it and both her sons had wrestled when they were in high school. I told her that this was my first wrestling match and asked if she could explain every once in a while how the scoring worked. (My girlfriend was completely oblivious to us the whole time, because, well, you know, so I knew I wasn't going to get much conversation out of her anyway.) The teacher told me that the team actually wasn't very good and had no chance to win any titles, but JP was one of their best wrestlers. He had only lost two matches, both to a wrestler from a rival school and was surely a hope for a individual district championship. Somehow, I wasn't surprised. She said, "JP's funny. He's lost to this guy twice, although not as badly the second time, and still predicts he'll beat him in districts." That's JP, I thought to myself. Finally, the match started and the whole team came out of the locker room. I spotted JP and called out his name. He didn't look up. The teacher said that like most of the wrestlers, he always goes into a "zone" before his match. They introduced the line-up (JP was wrestling 135) and the national anthem was played. Then, the first match was introduced: the 103-pound weight class, JP's old class. I had forgotten that he had moved up five weight classes in only one year. The teacher said, "He's probably the only wrestler who trains all year. He's gained a lot of muscle in that time. He used to be such a skinny little kid. I can only imagine what he'll be like by his senior year." "I know what you mean," I answered back. During the first few matches, JP stayed on the bench with the rest of the team. There were four matches before his and four losses for our high school. I guess the team isn't very good, I thought to myself. As the 125-pound match began, JP got up from the bench and walked toward the wall behind. He then proceeded in taking off his warm-up suit. Like all his other teammates, he was wearing the wrestling singlet: a tanktop-like outfit with shorts reaching halfway down the theighs and a neckline curving to just below the chest. I hated to say it, but JP looked good in that uniform. I mean, most of the other guys had muscles, but none of them were as well-proportioned as JP's. Some of the other wrestlers had great biceps, but their pec muscles were almost non-existent. And I swore that JP had gotten even bigger than the last time I saw him topless, barely a few months ago. His neck was incredibly wide for his head, bigger than my own, and my body was overall, larger than his. His shoulders were broader than most of the other guys his size and they exploded into baseball-size balls of muscle fiber as he did his overhead arm stretches. His biceps were thicker than ever. In fact, they were probably bigger relaxed than mine were flexed. His forearms were covered with veins that I could see even from the bleachers. JP's chest was amazing. It pertruded out far enough so that the straps of his singlet made a sizable gap underneath his pecs between the fabric and his skin. When he turned around, his lats formed a definite V-shape from his broad shoulders to his narrow waist, which was no more than 27 inches around. You could see his ripped back muscles moving underneath the fabric of the singlet. Then, there were his legs. I had never seen his legs before, but they were just as muscular as the rest of him. His thighs bulged and rippled with every step he took and the back part of his thighs was among the biggest on the team. His calves also bulged like crazy, even when he was relaxed and when he bounced on his toes, his calf muscles danced along. JP had become an amazingly muscular athlete, who didn't seem to stop growing. The referee had him shake hands with his opponent and then blew the whistle to start the match. Immediately, JP was on the other guy. I already knew that JP was strong, but he was also incredibly quick and agile. As soon as his opponent tried to hold him down, JP instantly got out of it. He had complete control of the match and was winning by a sizable margin. At the end of the first two-minute period, JP was ahead 9-0. "Wow, that kid is amazing," said the teacher next to me. The crowd was going crazy. Finally, one of our wrestlers was winning. JP walked over to his coach to get some more pointers for the next period. I couldn't imagine what they could be talking about; JP was nearly perfect. He was breathing hard. His chest was heaving and his arms, which stood quite a bit away from his body because of his huge lats, were moving up and down. The most amazing thing was his veins. They bulged regularly anyway, but after a couple minutes exertion, they were almost ready to burst, pumping with blood. The referee called the two wrestlers back to the center of the mat. Once again, he blew the whistle to start the second period. In barely five seconds, JP was on top of his opponent, forcing him into defense mode. Not five seconds later, the whistle was blown. JP had pinned the other guy in 8 seconds, an amazing speed. Apparently, in high school wrestling, no matter what the score is, if a wrestler pins his opponent, he is declared the winner. The crowd was going wild. The referee took the hands of both wrestlers and then raised JP's arm in victory. The spectators on our side of the gym erupted in celebration. JP pumped his arms into the air. His biceps bulged with power. He ran off the mat and into the high-fives and handshakes of his teammates. Then, he slipped the straps of his singlet over his shoulders, so that they hung down by his waist, revealing his chiseled torso. JP looked like a Greek god. His skin was glowing with sweat and his incredible six-pack abs tensed and loosened with every breath. It was then that he noticed me up in the stands and waved. I waved back. He motioned me to come down to talk to him. I did and told how awesome it was to see him wrestle. "I had 100% control of that match from the beginning," he bragged. "That kid had no chance …and he was a senior." I had to agree with him. "No one can withstand the strength of these babies!" As he said this, he flexed both his biceps. They were incredible with veins bulging full of blood. "15 inches. Not bad for a 15 year old, huh? I can bench 200 pounds, no problem!" I couldn't believe how much he had grown in only a year and a half. JP took a few heavy breaths and then said something that startled me a bit. “Try to put your hands around my neck,“ he said. “Huh?“ I answered, looking puzzled. “Now? Here?“ “Yeah, right now.“ When he was younger (and a lot smaller) I used to put my hands around his neck as if I was choking him, just in a joking mood. My fingers fit around perfectly with room to overlap. Ever since he started really gaining muscle, I stopped doing it. Therefore, I hadn’t “measured” his neck in a while. “Come on,“ JP assured me. “I’m not going to hurt you or anything.“ Hesitantly, I raised my hands to his neck. I was completely shocked. I expected to feel nothing but hard muscle, so that wasn’t what surprised me. JP’s neck had gotten so wide that I was unable to wrap my fingers all the way around it. “Pretty big, huh?“ JP was obviously proud of himself. “The base of my neck is wider than my head now. I noticed it last night when I looked in the mirror. Come on, push harder.“ Knowing that I could never hurt him, I obeyed. I tried to stretch my fingers and push them into him neck to make them touch, but I couldn’t. JP’s neck was a solid tree trunk of muscle. I finally gave up and dropped my arms to my sides. “That‘s the sign of a true wrestler.“ With that, he turned around to walk back into the locker room. Since his top was still down, his broad back was in plain view. It was a perfect V-shape from his unbelievably wide shoulders to his incredibly narrow waist. Plus, the two distinct ridges running down the middle of his back bulged and every muscle rippled as he walked away. His gorgeous bubble butt was perfectly highlighted by the spandex of his singlet. It was at that moment that I first was turned on by JP and realized I had a crush on him. It definitely wouldn’t be the last. •