September 3, 2021— the second day of eighth grade—my world collapsed. My dad contracted COVID-19 at a job site. After a month of illness at home, he was hospitalized and placed in the ICU. For two agonizing weeks, he fought for his life. I had to say goodbye to my dad while he was in a medically induced coma, surrounded by machines and tubes. In that moment, he didn’t look like himself. That day, I lost my dad—my best friend, my biggest supporter, my role model, and part of myself. I couldn’t fully fall apart, I had to be strong for my mom and little sister. I held my grandma as she sobbed and took my sister away from the hospital when she wouldn’t leave. Every night for a month, my sister came into my room crying, and I held her until she fell asleep. There was no time to mourn or process my grief. I bottled everything up until it spilled over—in anger, tears, or silence. By freshman year, I found myself in a dark place, keeping to myself. Initially, I joined to escape. But wrestling quickly became more than a distraction, it became a lifeline. Through wrestling, I got in physical shape. But more importantly, I found a second family in my teammates and coaches. They witnessed me at my strongest and most broken moments yet never gave up on me. Wrestling rebuilt my confidence and gave me a reason to keep pushing. It gave me something my dad would have been proud of—and something I could take pride in. During my freshman year, I placed 4th at Regionals and became an alternate for State. As a sophomore, I placed in the top five in multiple tournaments and served as Team Co-Captain despite an injury that kept me from competing at State. This year, as Team Captain, I won first place at Regionals and qualified for State, ranking 5th entering the competition, even while recovering from a pulled sternum and pneumonia. Unfortunately, a concussion in my third match prevented me from placing, but I kept fighting—because that’s what my dad and coach taught me. There are things I’ll never get back. My dad won’t see me graduate, walk me down the aisle, or dance with me in the kitchen. He won’t send me off to prom, buy me my first car, or meet my first boyfriend. I’ll never be that little daddy’s girl who woke up at 4 a.m. with him to pack his lunch or tie his boots again. We won’t share hunting trips, watch movies, cook together, or have heart-to-hearts around a fire. Yet, even without him physically here, my dad remains a huge part of who I am. His memory pushes me forward every day. His values live on in me—in my work ethic, resilience, and strength. Wrestling gave me space to heal and grow into the person I’m becoming. While wrestling didn’t erase the pain, it taught me to carry it and lift others with it. Whether mentoring other wrestlers, supporting teammates, or simply showing up with strength and loyalty, I aim to transform my tragedy into someone else’s triumph. If there’s one lesson I’ve learned, it’s that we don’t choose what breaks us, but we can choose how to build from the pieces.

Since I could walk, I've played softball. It wasn't something I was truly passionate about or wanted to pursue past playing on my high school team. I've also grown up on rage. Rage when a teammate misses a ball, when someone struck out, when our pitcher didn't throw a strike, or when the other team cheered obnoxiously. My freshman year of high school, I decided to try something new, so I joined my school's Girls Wrestling team. Joining wrestling was a lot harder than I thought it would be, from endless conditioning until I was about to pass out, to being 1 out of 4 girls on the team and battling all the insults and allegations that come with being a girl wrestler. But along with the hardships, came great benefits. I got in better physical shape and I found something to occupy my time outside of school. However, the three most important things I found were sportsmanship, anger management, and relationships, which greatly impacted my life. I used to take out my anger on everyone around me, but wrestling gives me something to focus it on and use to better myself. Wrestling is my outlet, I channel all my pent-up rage into pushing myself to my very limit at practice. Wrestling is also a solo sport, which means that when I underperform, I have no one to blame but myself. Pushing me harder and giving me motivation for everything I do. Sportsmanship is a crucial part of all sports, but mostly wrestling. When you are on that mat, it's just you, and the person standing in front of you and your goals and dreams. But it is also the same view for your opponent. Either they crush your goal, or you crush theirs. And the beautiful thing about that is knowing that you both put everything you have into that match, and whether they beat you or not, you have to respect all the hours of hard work and dedication they put in. I have found that when you step onto that mat, the other girl is your opponent and worst enemy, but off the mat, they are the same as you, a girl with a passion and a love for the sport. Oftentimes I even become friends with my opponent off the mat. On my 2nd day of 8th grade, my dad passed away from covid, leaving me feeling empty, alone, angry, and clueless. Ever since my first day of wrestling practice my coach has been by my side pushing me through all my injuries, sicknesses, self-doubt, losses, and wins. He has become a father figure to me and gave me a purpose. He also gave me teammates to support and be supported by, and he made me the Varsity Girls Wrestling Captain. When I injured myself and couldn't run or wrestle, it extremely lowered my self-esteem. He sat me down and told me that I needed to push through for myself and my team because I set the mood for the whole team. He said he chose me to be captain because he and everyone else on the team believes in me and looks up to me, and that everyone around me sees my potential but me, even teachers who don't know me very well. Without the coach and teammates I have, I would still be that angry, empty, and lonely kid I was 3 years ago. Wrestling isn’t just a sport to me; it’s a foundation upon which I’ve built my strength, leadership, and relationships.