My name is Shawn Leidholt, and I am dead game. I will fight for what I love and the people I care about. My scars are a source of pride, especially the one that goes down my right forearm. They symbolize a time when I was hurt, bleeding and in pain, but have gotten right back up and kept going strong till this day. I believe that hard work will lead me to success, and I've built myself up around that core principle. That's why I kill myself at wrestling practice, in the weight room, and hit the books hard in class.

My award, 'Most Improved Wrestler 2009-2010' is a testament to this. I won't ever give up. Through grappling, I've experienced a feeling of camaraderie like never before, not even in team sports. You train with the guys and get to know all of them, and eventually they start to feel like family.

You have to feel love to be able to go beyond your limits. When I'm at practice, dying, I think about what I'm trying to prove about myself, to myself. It's all about breaking through that mental barrier. Once you get through that, the sky's the limit for what you can accomplish. A person without love won't try to go beyond what seems possible to them, simply because they lack the motivation to. A person with love will try to go above and beyond his limit because he has a reason to fight. This is commendable. This is dead game.