| My name is Juliana Alejandro. I am sixteen years old and currently a Junior at Centennial High School, in Las Vegas, NV. I started wrestling when I was four years old; my sister Jenavi and I were the only girls in the room at Team Vegas. Jenavi and I initially began wrestling because our older brother Matthew was on the team and we wanted to be like him. After practicing for about two years, I decided it was time to take a break and try other sports. I played golf for one year; then the next year I decided to try cheerleading. After those two years my sister and I decided to go back to wrestling. It was a hassle to get our dad to allow us to go back to wrestling; we would beg everyday until he finally said yes. I was always so excited to go to wrestling practice; it was so easy to fall in love with the sport. When we came back we started at a new club called The Las Vegas Gladiators. It wasn’t until I was in 4th grade that I started going to tournaments. When I was 6th grade we started going to school and wrestling at SLAM Academy; Slam was a new all girls team. It was nice to finally start wrestling with other girls. However, our time at SLAM was short lived, we were only there for a little over a year. |
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| We would only wrestle against boys until I was in 5th grade; this is when our dad/coach started taking Jenavi and I all around the country to compete against other girls in National Tournaments. It was a whole different feeling competing against girls on the National Stage. When I started competing, I was not very good, but I stayed the course. I showed up every day and worked hard to improve, and little by little I did. |
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| I ended the 2019 season placing 2nd at the 15u UWW World Team Trials, which earned me a spot on Team USA. My Freshman year I was Runner-up at the Nevada Girls State Tournament. Unfortunately during that year my off-season was cut short due to Covid, so I did not get to compete Nationally. My Sophomore year I was able to travel a lot more. We trained with many elite teams in many different states outside of Nevada. One of the memorable practices was when we were invited for a Zoom practice with India, Russia, EU and other US states. Once we felt that we were ready, we started traveling all over the US for training and competitions to get us ready for the National Stage. In March 2021, we traveled to Coralville, Iowa for the USA Wrestling Folkstyle National Championships, where I became National Runner-up. A few months later we traveled to Fargo, ND for the USA Wrestling Freestyle National Championships, where I finished 3rd in the Nation for my age group. I also elected to go up an age group, where I was one match from placing and becoming a double All-American. |
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| Some of my accomplishments include: 2018 USA Folkstyle National Champion, USAW Top 25 Freshman, 2019 National Team Member, 2019 AAU National Champion, 6x All-American, 2019 Nevada State Runner-Up, 2021 Western States Champion and Runner-Up and currently ranked 12th in the Nation at 100 lbs and currently starting on the High School Boys Varsity Team for my 2nd Season. |
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| I’m very grateful to have some of the best high school coaches; Coach Don McGregor, coach Kevin Robles and Coach Jake Evans. I cannot thank you enough; you inspire me to be the best version of myself everyday. I also want to thank my club team coaches at ATC, Coach Nap, Alex and Val for always believing in me and training me to be one of the best in the world. A special thank you to my first Coach, My Dad, for introducing me into wrestling, pushing me to my limits, believing in me and teaching me that girls can wrestle. When I want to break, I always go back to something my dad has always told me, “you just have to put in the work; if you do, wins and losses will take care of themselves.” |
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I also want to thank my mom and my little brother JJ for the love and support. My sister Jenavi; I’m very lucky to have the best training partner and sister. Thank you for challenging and making me better. My big brothers Jaydon and Matthew for being in my corner when I needed you. Lastly, I want to thank my Grandparents Jeff, Gil, Nina and Lola Jean. Thank you for your support and cheering me on. I love you! |
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| My future aspirations are to wrestle in college, pursue a career in Physical Therapy and to make a Junior and Senior level World Team. |
