Tale of 2 stripes: Tonganoxie wrestler’s hair change makes alteration of its own
Shawn F. Linenberger/Staff
Brady Martin competes at the Class 4A state wrestling championships Feb. 25 in Salina.Postseason wrestling creates plenty of excitement, anxiety and everything in between, but regionals and state also are the season new hairstyles.
It’s common for wrestlers to dye their hair a certain color or colors and even throw in some patterns.
Brady Martin donned a blue stripe down the middle of his hair for 4A regionals Feb. 18 in Baldwin.
Fast-forward to the state meet Friday and Saturday and Martin went from a blue stripe to a pink stripe.
So what was the significance of the color change?
Absolutely nothing.
Martin said he donned the blue look in honor of a character from “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” a animated television series from Nickelodeon.
The title character, Avatar Aang, has a blue stripe on his head, which Martin tried to emulate.
When state approached, Martin attempted to bleach out the stripe, but the blue unexpectedly became a pink stripe.
“It was an accident,” Martin said with a smile. “It wasn’t on purpose.”
Intentional or accidental, the pink stripe didn’t seem to hurt, as Martin now has a second-place medal.