| Hello, this is Samantha Sue Jordan. She goes by Sammy or Sammy Sue. She is 9 years old and in the Fourth grade at Spanish Springs Elementary School. This is her third year of wrestling. Sammy started wrestling in Roseville, CA for the Wolf Pack Wrestling team. She fell in love the moment she tied on her wrestling shoes and stepped on the mat. Sammy practiced for three weeks before her first tournament. It went pretty much like every kid’s first tournament, she lost. She never stopped fighting; she went to a tournament every weekend and practiced five days a week. |
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| She started picking it up and really understanding and truly falling in love with the sport. Finally, she started winning. She started placing everywhere we went. She took Second at the Reno Rumble. She was ready for State when Covid hit, and that was the end of wrestling for most people. Sammy and her brother worked out every day. She couldn’t handle not wrestling. |
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| With Covid, Sammy was out of wrestling for about three months when we moved back to Nevada. The first week back in town, Sammy went and did a practice at Nevada Elite Wrestling, and we have been with them ever since. She worked very hard to earn the respect of the team. The boys on the team had been together for a while. She was the new kid in town and felt she needed to show her commitment to the team, and that she was willing to do the work. They had no local tournaments, so we traveled more in the last year then we ever thought we would. |
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| It is a real family affair when it comes to Sammy and her wrestling. We have been to Arizona, Idaho( twice), to Utah and four times to Las Vegas. Sammy has placed everywhere we have gone. We always try to double-bracket her at all tournaments. When a girl’s bracket is offered, we always do it. Of course, we always do a boy’s bracket. It has been a good step forward for girls wrestling seeing all tournaments making it a point to make girls brackets. The more they are offered the more people will notice, and the more girls wrestling can grow. |
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When you ask Sammy what she sees for her future her 9-year old answer is, being a gold medalist in the Olympics and wrestling in college. She never sees a future without wrestling. As parents we encourage her and push her to always do her best, and if she does that, nothing can stop her from anything she wants to do.
Kids like Sammy need something in their life. School is not easy for Sammy. She needs an outlet and wrestling is Sammy’s. It allows her to have a place to work hard, burn energy have fun and take pride in herself. Wrestling has taught Sammy so much. It has made her stronger and more confident in herself. She has learned that hard work and a strong desire pays off. She believes in herself. She learns from her defeats and takes pride in her victories. |
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