| When I began wrestling, I was ten years old. I started wrestling because of my brother Kai. He started wrestling in middle school and I have always liked to try to do things better than my brothers, so I started wrestling too. When I started wrestling, I didn’t know if I’d like it but honestly, it felt kind of natural. I surprisingly started out really successful so my dad would usually call me a “freak,” in a good way of course, because normally when you start, losses outweigh the wins. As years went by, I mostly competed with boys because I only knew a handful of girls who wrestled. Girls didn’t wrestle so it’s amazing to be able to go to wrestling tournaments dedicated to Women’s Wrestling. When I first started practicing, I would only wrestle with boys and one girl, named Reese Larramendy, who has helped me realize the love I have for this sport. |
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| When you wrestle you never know what to expect. You can either have a good day or a bad one, but you can’t complain because no matter what kind of day you have, you get better if you work hard. As I went into middle school, I could tell that wrestling was going to be tougher just by looking at the boys. By middle school, most boys began to hit puberty, so their strength was a bit of a problem. I would lose a lot which was something I didn’t handle well, but luckily, I had coaches by my side who helped me fix my mentality. Wrestling is a big mental game that I’m still trying to learn but with the help of my coaches and everyone else in my life, I have come a long way. |
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| When it came to high school, I experienced a whole new world of wrestling. The boys I would wrestle when I was younger looked like men, and more girls were wrestling. The only bad thing was that boys would think “Oh it’s just a girl” so they would take it lightly, until they realized that they had to wrestle. Besides that, everything else was fun and amazing. In my first year of high school, I was able to do and achieve many things like becoming a Women’s State Champion and placing in high-level tournaments. I’ve also had to deal with getting injured, but I’m back on my feet now. I am currently a Junior at McQueen High school, and I’m very excited for my future. I have learned, experienced and seen many new things, and I can’t wait to do so many more things. |
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| I am so happy I wrestle because it has positively affected my life. I have met so many amazing people, wrestlers, and families through wrestling, and I am grateful that they are in my life. All the support truly means a lot to me. I am also incredibly grateful to my family and coaches for always being by my side and making everything possible. I also would also like to give a big thank you to Coach Mumm and Coach Sorgani for helping me be the wrestler I am today, especially Coach Mumm for dealing with me all seven years of wrestling, and more to come. I can’t wait to see how Women’s Wrestling grows, and it feels great to be a part of it. I am thankful for everything in my life, especially my parents because I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it wasn’t for them. |
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