| Hi, my name is Emma Albanese. I am 15-years old and have been wrestling since I was 9, going on 10. I live in Las Vegas, NV and got into wrestling because of my grandpa, first coach, Coach Pete Martin and Mrs. Marina Scott. Before I started wrestling, I thought wrestling was a boys only sport and not meant for girls. My grandpa, Coach Pete, and Mrs. Marina would always try to get me to step on the mat and give the sport a shot, but I was a dancer and Jui Jitsu competitor who did not like the thought of being the only girl in the room doing a “boys sport”. Finally after months of a lot of convincing, I decided to try one practice. That one practice was all it took to make me fall in love with this amazing sport and realize that wrestling isn’t a “boys sport,” but a sport that anyone can do if they are willing to put in time and dedication |
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I wrestled out of Pistol Wrestling Club for about four and a half years before the team came to an end due to a really great opportunity for Coach Pete Martin to pursue his dream of being a firefighter. Currently, I am training with Coach Bill Sullivan at Legends of Gold LV. Coach Bill is also my high school coach at SLAM! Academy Nevada. When I first found out I was going to be able to start training with Coach Bill, I became super excited. Not only for the fact that he is a very educated coach who has coached on very high levels, such as Worlds and PanAms, but also because of the fact that he has a super good and strong girls team. I have been competing on his team for a year and a half now, and I can see big improvements in the way I wrestle and compete. |
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| I am a seven-time All-American wrestler and a 2019 National Team Member. In 2019, I also competed in the USA Nevada State Championships and took home six State Titles: three in the boys division and three in the girls for Freestyle, Folkstyle, and Greco, including an Outstanding Wrestler Award, and an invitation to the Boys Nevada Dual Team at the Turf War Duals in Pocatello, Idaho. It was a super awesome feeling winning those State Titles because I spent a lot of time in the gym training hard with Coach Pete. |
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| In 2018-2019, I started to travel around the country to compete in high-level tournaments. I used to only compete against boys because it was tough to find girls in my divisions at most tournaments due to how few girls wrestled here in Nevada, or really anywhere around the country. Due to the fact that I was used to seeing so few girls at tournaments, I was amazed to see all the girls in my brackets and at competitions when I finally started traveling to Girls Tournaments. The fact that Women’s Wrestling is the fastest growing sport has me super excited to see because so many new opportunities are opening up for us girls, like new Women’s Programs in colleges. |
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| I would like to thank Coach Papa Pete for introducing me and advancing my love for the sport of wrestling. Super special *A*T(inside joke ha! ha!), I mean thank you to Coach Dad Bill for going over and beyond to provide me with amazing opportunities training, traveling, competing at the toughest competitions, and growing as a wrestler and person. I couldn’t do all of this without you! I would also like to thank my current coaches: Coach Mackey, Coach Hocker, Coach Jake, and Coach Joe for continuing to push me daily and help me grow in the sport I love. And last but not least, I would like to thank my family and training partners for supporting me and sticking by my side through thick and thin. |
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| My future goals include making the 2022 World Team, Junior and Senior World Teams, Wrestling in college, making an Olympic Team, and coaching and giving back to the wrestling community. Some of my accomplishments include: 2021 Women’s Folkstyle National Runner-up, 2021 Fargo All American, 2021 USAW High School Top 25, 2021 Western Regionals Champion 16u and Juniors, 2021 Freak Show Champion, 2021 Rocky Mountain National Champion 15u and 18u, 2020 USAW High School Top 25 as an 8th Grader, 2019 UWW Women’s Freestyle National Runner-up, 2019 National Team Member, 2019 6x Nevada State Champion (Triple Crown in both Middle School Girls & Middle School Boys), 2019 Usa Nationals Champion Freestyle & Folkstyle. |
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