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A year ago it occurred to me that maybe my daughter Mialee would like to try wrestling. She was 10 and a half and in the middle of a soccer session.
I should have thought of it sooner, because our State had just introduced Girls Wrestling in High School, but with me being away from the wrestling scene for about 10 years I was slow on the uptake.
I enrolled her in an advanced program because it was the off-season and the normal school programs were done. She signed up and it was rough. Not only did she not know what she was doing but all of her partners were boys who had been wrestling for years and she struggled to score a point, even against kids 20 lbs smaller than her. To keep her motivated and putting forth effort, I decided to pay her $1 for each time she scored, that way instead of just giving up against superior opponents she had a reason to keep trying to score in any capacity she could.
She did that all summer and after about 4 months I signed her up for the only tournament I could, a nationals tournament. I knew she wouldn't win a match but all she had was practice and I wanted her to see what it was she was training to compete in. We went and she got two girls who had been wrestling for many years and were highly ranked in their states. As expected Mialee got pinned in both matches but it was worth the experience. She went back to training with her eyes on her first regular season coming up in a few months.
To cut things short, the season finally came and in December she had her first in-season tournament. She had some ups and downs but overall was fantastic!
She finished with a record of 31-9.
She competed against boys in their first year like her and was 17-5 against them. Against girls she competed in Open Tournaments, where the girls could have (and most did) have many years of experience. She went 14-4 against them.
She competed in 12 tournaments. She took 1st place seven times, 2nd three times, 5th once and 6th once. She placed in every tournament.
At the first ever youth Girls State Tournament she placed 5th. She was among the few girls in their first year of wrestling there.
Her worst tournament of the year she took 6th place at. She was in the Semifinals and wrestled unlike herself by doing things she hadn't done all year. She lost in OT to miss out on 1st or 2nd place and then after that she lost her next 2 dropping to 6th place. She was mentally done after missing out on the finals in overtime. However, three weeks later she pinned the boy who took first at this tournament!
Her last tournament was the AAU Gold State Tournament for first year wrestlers. She moved up in weight class and took first place! Also, the boy who took 1st at her previous weight class she pinned a month earlier. Moreover, every year the AAU Gold Tournament has around 70 brackets between all ages and weights. It was 5 tournaments ago when the a girl won AAU Gold in a bracket that had more than 3 kids in it. So she was the first in 5 of these annual tournaments to win it as a girl! The last girl who did it on 2/2016 was the undefeated Girls High School State Champion this year.
Anyways, I'm posting because I'm very proud of how hard Mialee has worked. She began wrestling in very harsh circumstances being so new and wrestling only boys. Wrestling is hard enough and many kids quit even when they win a lot because of how hard of a sport it is. She hung in there even when all she had to look forward to was another day of getting her ass whipped. And now the hard work paid off!
She has a bright future and I am excited to see how far she goes and I can't wait for her 2nd wrestling season to begin!
I have a YouTube Channel recording her entire journey. I didn't create the Channel for Subscribers, I created it for memories and something she can look back on someday. However if you are a fan of wrestling and feel so inclined, please subscribe. In order to unlock new YouTube features we have to hit 100 Subscribers. Thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWveacgdYc6Oev9jONCMCBw
I should have thought of it sooner, because our State had just introduced Girls Wrestling in High School, but with me being away from the wrestling scene for about 10 years I was slow on the uptake.
I enrolled her in an advanced program because it was the off-season and the normal school programs were done. She signed up and it was rough. Not only did she not know what she was doing but all of her partners were boys who had been wrestling for years and she struggled to score a point, even against kids 20 lbs smaller than her. To keep her motivated and putting forth effort, I decided to pay her $1 for each time she scored, that way instead of just giving up against superior opponents she had a reason to keep trying to score in any capacity she could.
She did that all summer and after about 4 months I signed her up for the only tournament I could, a nationals tournament. I knew she wouldn't win a match but all she had was practice and I wanted her to see what it was she was training to compete in. We went and she got two girls who had been wrestling for many years and were highly ranked in their states. As expected Mialee got pinned in both matches but it was worth the experience. She went back to training with her eyes on her first regular season coming up in a few months.
To cut things short, the season finally came and in December she had her first in-season tournament. She had some ups and downs but overall was fantastic!
She finished with a record of 31-9.
She competed against boys in their first year like her and was 17-5 against them. Against girls she competed in Open Tournaments, where the girls could have (and most did) have many years of experience. She went 14-4 against them.
She competed in 12 tournaments. She took 1st place seven times, 2nd three times, 5th once and 6th once. She placed in every tournament.
At the first ever youth Girls State Tournament she placed 5th. She was among the few girls in their first year of wrestling there.
Her worst tournament of the year she took 6th place at. She was in the Semifinals and wrestled unlike herself by doing things she hadn't done all year. She lost in OT to miss out on 1st or 2nd place and then after that she lost her next 2 dropping to 6th place. She was mentally done after missing out on the finals in overtime. However, three weeks later she pinned the boy who took first at this tournament!
Her last tournament was the AAU Gold State Tournament for first year wrestlers. She moved up in weight class and took first place! Also, the boy who took 1st at her previous weight class she pinned a month earlier. Moreover, every year the AAU Gold Tournament has around 70 brackets between all ages and weights. It was 5 tournaments ago when the a girl won AAU Gold in a bracket that had more than 3 kids in it. So she was the first in 5 of these annual tournaments to win it as a girl! The last girl who did it on 2/2016 was the undefeated Girls High School State Champion this year.
Anyways, I'm posting because I'm very proud of how hard Mialee has worked. She began wrestling in very harsh circumstances being so new and wrestling only boys. Wrestling is hard enough and many kids quit even when they win a lot because of how hard of a sport it is. She hung in there even when all she had to look forward to was another day of getting her ass whipped. And now the hard work paid off!
She has a bright future and I am excited to see how far she goes and I can't wait for her 2nd wrestling season to begin!
I have a YouTube Channel recording her entire journey. I didn't create the Channel for Subscribers, I created it for memories and something she can look back on someday. However if you are a fan of wrestling and feel so inclined, please subscribe. In order to unlock new YouTube features we have to hit 100 Subscribers. Thanks!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWveacgdYc6Oev9jONCMCBw