You don’t play wrestling. Unlike most other sports, wrestling is the direct imposition of your will on another person, one-on-one. You learn to work against opposition, as wrestling pushes your physical and mental toughness to the limit.

George: Wrestling with Resistance parallels the tough sport of wrestling with the adversities facing youth in the inner city. The film follows George Hargrove’s wrestling season during his freshman year at Springfield Technical Community College. He travels from Springfield to Niagara Falls to Minnesota for the National Wrestling Championship.

Springfield struggles with many issues. Springfield is a poor city that has the lowest graduation rate (54.4%) in Massachusetts, compared to the state’s 81.2% average. The film offers hope through the people that inhabit it. We hear from the students and their advocates, fiercely proud teachers and coaches, that provide opportunity through education and athletics. We get a glimpse into the challenges that they face everyday. And we learn about George and how his achievements have shown other students what success really is.

The filmmaker, Tim O’Donnell, teaches and coaches at the high school George attended. He met the subject four years ago at wrestling practice and became George’s coach and mentor. Charming, handsome and polite, George stands at 6’2” and 210 pounds of pure cut muscle: he is an athletic specimen. He is a quiet leader who teaches by example. “I once witnessed another coach give George a duffle bag to replace the plastic grocery bag he was using to carry his workout gear. George shined an inspiring smile followed by a sincere thank you. He found a pack of Tic-tac mints inside the duffle bag and asked if he could keep them. When the coach approved, George gave a Tic-tac to each wrestler on the bus.”

George has learned how to wrestle, but he has also learned how to use hard work and discipline to overcome life’s oppositions.