For The Love Of Wraslin'

Something that I am extremely passionate about is wrestling. When I was younger, my mother did her very best to make me into a prissy sissy little lady. Now, I wrestle with the guys at practice and hold my own against them. Let's just say that her efforts were futile....

Pinning my opponent a minute into the match!

Once I got to high school I discovered the wonderful world of contact sports! It started with rugby, and the following year my friend decided to go out for the wrestling team. I was aware that our school had a team but I had no interest in joining it. My friend convinced me to go with her on the first week so that she would know somebody there, and me being the wonderfully loyal person that I am, went with her. I had no intention of being on the team, but after the first few practices I was hooked.


Up until this point I had been hopelessly clumsy and was unable to play even badminton without injuring myself and others. So when I began to kick butt on the mat and receive complements on my technique, strength and aggression, it was a huge confidence boost! In my first year alone, I won several gold medals and now hold the titles of WCSSAA Champion (Twice) and CWOSSA Silver medalist. I joined a club team outside of school and got the opportunity to wrestle at a higher level and work with extremely talented coaches and call a few national and international champions my teammates. They inspire me every practice to train and practice harder and ask more of myself.

To be really successful on the mat it takes strength, technique, passion, aggression, determination, sacrifice and something my club coaches stress: MENTAL TOUGHNESS! Wrestling has pretty much taken over my schedule (7 practices between Monday and Thursday!) and when I come home covered in bruises with sprains and pulled muscles, small pieces of my hair ripped out, and burst blood vessels disfiguring my ears, I ask myself, "Why am I doing this?" My answer to that is: the feeling of my hand being raised in the air declaring me as the winner of the match is the most rewarding feeling in the world. It justifies everything that I put myself through.

The gold medal match at WCSSAA last year.

Wrestling has taught me the value of dedication; that your rewards are directly proportional to your effort. It's a great outlet and I'm a much happier person during the season since I have the opportunity to take my frustration onto the mat and leave it there. The rush of adrenaline as I slam my opponent into the mat is addicting, and it is pretty funny watching my mother cringe as she watches what I do to my opponents in matches. Once, she even apologized to my opponent's mother for me dislocating her daughter's shoulder instead of congratulating me on winning the gold medal match! It truly is a blood, sweat, and tears sport and I love it! <3

My biggest fan!