| My name is Ryker Rollans, and my wrestling career started maybe a month after I was born. My dad was a coach, so I was in and out of the wrestling room at a very early age. I think just being in the environment of sweat, blood, and pure hard work struck my interest in wrestling. When I was two-three years old, I would wear a wrestling singlet everywhere I went, regardless of the weather. At age four, I started officially training and going to tournaments. My first tournament was the Southern Nevada Wrestling Association (SNWA) Championships where I went 0-2, losing to the same kid twice. My dad asked if I wanted to wrestle again next week and I said “yes!”. The next week was the USA Nevada State Tournament, I avenged my loss from the previous week and ended up winning the State Tournament! |
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| The next season, week after week it was only me and my friend Jaxon in the bracket. I won the first few matches, but then Jaxon started kicking my butt every match. As you can imagine, this caused me to lose my joy for the sport of wrestling, and I ended up quitting before the end of the season. Over the next four years, we call these the dark years, I tried many different sports such as football, basketball, and soccer, all the while I was still surrounded by the sport of wrestling because of my dad. Finally, when I was nine, my cousin, Siana, decided that she was going to try wrestling, so I decided to get back into it to help her, and I could not let her be the only wrestler in the family. So I started wrestling with my cousin and I found the love of competing again! |
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| Soon after getting back into wrestling, my dad started coaching at Gold Rush Wrestling Academy and I started training there. The club had some really great wrestlers that would push me. I got better, but I was still not getting the results that I wanted when I attended tough out of town tournaments. I had to do some self reflection, and make some changes to my training methods. I always worked very hard in practice, but I needed to choose the tough partners that would push me to the levels that I wanted to achieve. Once I made this change I saw results. For example, after losing the first match at Reno Worlds, I won six matches in a row to earn a 4th Place Medal. This continued through this season when I placed 2nd at PNL Regionals, 3rd at the PNL Nationals, and finished as a Nevada State Champion. |
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| I am extremely grateful to the sport of wrestling for it has allowed me to travel all over the country and the world. My favorite experience in my career has been when I traveled to the Netherlands with my dad and sister, Lilly, to compete in an International Greco Tournament. I got to compete for the United States of America and watch my sister hold the American Flag on the Podium. This memory always brings me joy and encourages me to keep working. |
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My goals for my future in wrestling are to be the best in the country and the world. I want to win the Pan-American Championships, the World Championships, and the Olympics in Greco! In the near future my goal is to win Four State Titles and Four Fargo Titles in Greco and have my dad walk me onto the stage. I also want to say thank you to my family for their unwavering support, my coaches at Gold Rush, and my training partners. I could not do any of this without them! |
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