A sport that many people overlook can show how hard each person works to show that every sport has some type of meaning to an athlete.
The girls’ varsity wrestling team has women in the Sunflower League and is planning to go to State. Each girl worked hard and trained hard to qualify, and Gardner wrestling is a sport that many should not overlook.
Some wrestlers, such as Leila Scott-Pearson, 12, have been wrestling since Kansas brought girls wrestling to the Sunflower League.
“It was something I’ve always liked. I’ve tried everything, and wrestling was the one thing that stuck with me,” said Scott-Pearson. “My best friend Naomi, at the time, I was in sixth grade, and we just started because it just became a sanctioned sport in Kansas for girls. So we decided to try something new. My drive for this sport keeps me going.”
Scott-Pearson said that wrestling has been the one thing she been committed to for most of my life.
“Wrestling is all about your weight, so you can’t always go out and eat a cheeseburger, or McDonald’s,” said Scott-Pearson. “You have to eat healthy and watch what you eat.”
She said that wrestling can affect a peson mentally or physically when they start in the sport. The one skill she had to learn was not to get mentally stressed.
“It’s really easy to get at yourself, last year I really had that mindset. But what keeps me going is knowing that God has a plan,” said Scott-Pearson. “Knowing that we are going to state, I want people to know that we’re a machine.
Scott-Pearson said that they entire team has worked hard all season.
“It’s not just one of us; it’s all of us,” said Scott-Pearson. “We have worked our butt off all season. We’re excited to do great things at the state tournament.”
Naomi Mayfield a senior who started doing wrestling in her sixth grade year, had to make it to state and show her skills on the mat.
“I did wrestling because it started as a girls’ sport and I just wanted to try it out,” said Mayfield. “My friends kept me going and committed to wrestling, and I get to see all the hard work pay off, especially in the off-season. My brother and my mom both supported and influenced me with wrestling.”
Mayfield said that a typical practice for her is watching her weight and what I eat, She also works on things that she is struggling with.
“The most difficult thing for me, both physically and mentally, is the mindset,” said Mayfield. “For me, if my mind isn’t in the right headspace, I feel like I don’t perform as well as I should. What makes me stay confident is telling myself I know what I’m doing and I’ve wrestled tougher matches than this.”
Even when she might lose a match, Mayfield tries to keep her head up and have a positive mindset.
“It’s definitely the toughest sport that you will be a part of, and I think more people should do it and keep it growing,” said Mayfield. “If there’s any girl who’s thinking about it, I say go for it, go give it a shot for sure, and just keep a positive mindset and not everything is going to go your way. Keep pushing yourself, and don’t give up.”
