I grew up near Boise, Idaho, in the Nampa, Meridian area with my mom and four older siblings. We had a good life. We always ran around with the neighborhood kids, and about ten of us were always playing football and basketball. When I got older, I went to live with my dad because my older sister became addicted to drugs, and my mom needed to focus on helping her.

When I got to high school, I was new to the area and didn’t really know anyone, and the basketball team was already picked out. So, I ended up playing football. Some of my buddies on the team also wrestled and told me that I had a pretty good double leg, and I was like, “What is a double leg?" They explained that it was a wrestling move and invited me to try out for the team, so I tried out. It was the one sport that I did not excel at right away. It was a huge change for me because I had naturally excelled in every other sport. Even though it was not my best sport, I decided to stick with it. I lost all three of my first matches. I remember not wanting to go home with my parents because I was so embarrassed.

After my first year of wrestling, I started to pick it up. I stuck with it because it was the first sport that truly challenged me. I was not successful right away, and it took a lot of hard work before I started to win matches. Our team was good because our coaches pushed us to constantly improve. As a result, we always made the playoffs, and my freshman and sophomore year, we were ranked third in the state in the largest conference. Several of our wrestlers wrestled for Division I schools like Boise State, Stanford, and Oregon State. It was good for me to be on a team that was striving for success. I had good workout partners that helped teach me the different wrestling moves.

By my senior year of high school, I had caught the attention of recruiters from Boise State and UVU. I liked both schools. Boise State would allow me to stay near my hometown and almost be a “hometown hero.” That is the way they described it to me. The Boise State recruiter told me, "Everyone knows you out here, so the crowd is going to be there to watch you." That sounded appealing to me, but it was hard because I also really liked UVU. UVU's main selling point was the wrestling coach, Ethan Lofthouse. Something resonated with me about him right away. He reminded me of my high school coach, Kevin Wood, and I knew that I would respond well to his coaching. I felt that he would push me to be better, and I decided to go to UVU. I told my parents that I wanted to go to UVU, and they told me to make a list of the pros and cons of going to UVU. After making a list, the cons seemed to outweigh the pros because I would be far from home, and if I ran into trouble, I would not have anyone there to help me, so I decided to go to Boise State.

I had a good experience at Boise State, but they ended up dropping their wrestling program. As soon as they dropped it, UVU called me again and asked me to fly out on a recruiting trip. It was an easy decision because my younger brothers had started to run track for UVU. My parents told me that I had been given a chance to wrestle for my hometown college, and now I had the opportunity to go watch out for my brothers in Utah. At that point, I felt more confident in moving to Utah because my brothers were there, and I knew I could join their friend group.

The transition went very smoothly, and soon I was integrated into the team and my classes. Something that initially caught my attention was the community support surrounding UVU athletics. Mentors and supporters were backing me from the moment I stepped onto the mat. After graduating from UVU, I will have mentors and resources ready to help me. When seeking advice or looking for a referral letter, I know there are people that will have my back. I am grateful for the support that we receive as student-athletes.

As a student-athlete, it can be challenging to juggle sports and classwork. However, one of the critical things that I learned from wrestling is discipline. Wrestling is a disciplined sport. There is a lot that goes into it. It is a physical challenge, but it is also a mental game, and you must be disciplined in all aspects of your life to succeed. Every season, I have to lose 5–10 pounds to make weight, and then I watch my diet to stay in my weight class. You also have to get the right amount of sleep and dedicate time to the different exercises and workouts. 

This mindset translates into the classroom. As a competitor, I like to get the best grades that I can. My siblings and I have always competed — not in a negative way, but to hold each other accountable and push each other to do better. Ever since we were kids, we always tried to bring home the best report card.

People say after you have wrestled, everything in life becomes easier. I do not see anything as being unattainable. A lot of people say, “I can achieve this, but not right now because of how big of an achievement it would be.” It is easy to achieve the more immediate things in life, but the big things are also easy to accomplish if you believe in yourself. Having that belief system and work ethic pays off.

When I am down points in a match, I always focus on the small things and let those small victories turn into a win. Many wrestlers want to get all their points with one big move, and that is a hard thing to do, so I like to wrestle hard and focus on scoring one point at a time. After I score the first point, I move on to the second point, and one point turns into two points and so on. People get worried when they are down by several points and only have a small amount of time to catch up. One time, I had 45 seconds on the clock and was down by six or seven points, and I got four takedowns in 45 seconds to win the match.

It does not matter how good my opponent is or how high they are ranked; I know that I can beat them. As I step onto the mat, my demeanor shows my confidence in my ability to win no matter who I am up against. My parents ingrained that grind and resilience in me because they taught me that sports and life are not fair, so you have to know how to push through the opposition. This attitude is present in all aspects of my preparation for a match. I never let anyone beat me in the weight room. Sometimes when athletes are conditioning, they might want to rest on one rep, thinking they are giving themselves a break. However, if they do not push themselves in practice, they will fail in an actual match, so they do themselves a disservice in the long run.

When wrestling, my favorite place to be is on my feet. I have always been fast, which helps me make quick attacks at my opponents’ legs. I also love overtime. My most challenging match was the Big 12 Finals match a couple of years ago. I went out and gave up three takedowns in the first period, which is uncommon for me. So, my opponent had a 4-point lead on me right off the bat. My coaches and I looked at each other, and I said, "I've got this." It was hard because I was up against a tough wrestler. We had very similar wrestling styles, so we wrestled every position. I would get him in a hold, and he would get out of it and immediately put me in a hold. We kept going back and forth until the second period when I felt him start to let out the gas on me. I was trying to catch up, so I kept popping off shots, and I slowly started to wear him down. It was a 2-point match going into the last round, and I got two more points to tie it up. That put us into overtime, and I have not lost a single overtime match since being at UVU. I looked over at my coaches and gave them a big thumbs up. As the overtime period started, I took a shot at his legs and got a takedown to win the match and become the Big 12 Champion. Just this past month, I won my second Big 12 Championship for UVU. I owe my success to my coaches, who have helped me to stay physically and mentally strong.

I already completed my undergraduate studies in behavioral science, with an emphasis in family studies, and I am currently in the marriage and family therapy master's program. I almost finished with my first year, and my long-term goal is to move to Georgia and open a clinic with my brother. Before earning my license, I plan on continuing to wrestle for UVU as part of the ROTC program, and someday I hope to wrestle in the Olympics.

To anyone who is feeling discouraged, remember that you are not growing the moment you start to feel comfortable. Embrace that feeling of being uncomfortable because it shows that you are growing and making more out of yourself.