"Don't Underestimate Me"

I've pretty much enjoyed all my interactions with the wrestlers I've interviewed over the years. I find the differences fascinating. Often I can tell what region they are from, what grade they are in or believe it or not, what hair color they have based on their personality. 

If I had to describe Mikayla Marie in one word, it would be professional, which is pretty surprising considering she is just a sophomore.

Last year, Mikayla was a freshman who weighed in at 132 pounds. That is a pretty heavy weight for a girl wrestling boys and as a freshman, most girls would probably only win a few matches unless your name is Deanna Rix. But Mikayla went approximately 12-15 (8-10 vs. boys). That's a really impressive record for a freshman, let alone a freshman girl. Mikayla's reaction? "Pretty terrible to be honest."

So for a girl to go 8-10 as a freshman in a one on one combat sport against boys who are probably older than her...that should be a badge of honor, not "Pretty terrible to be honest." But Mikayla doesn't want to be judged on her age or gender, she just wants to go out and compete. The thing I got from Mikayla, was win or lose, you were going to get her best, and she was going to keep an even keel.

Which brings me to her match vs. Jeff Smith. When Mikayla showed me her match on youtube, she described it thusly, "It was a pretty sloppy match on my part, but a win is a win I guess."

I don't really understand how a dominating performance where you don't give up a point is sloppy. It was a rather unspectacular match which is why I enjoyed it so much. My dad taught me at an early age playing tennis, that if you have your opponent down, keep em' down. And Mikayla was able to do that this whole match. Mikayla's opponent, Jeff Smith also consented to an interview. He was obviously disappointed in the result, and felt he could have done better.

Below is how both wrestlers felt, during Game Day.

As with most wrestlers, the morning of the match there is bound to be jitters. But for Mikayla, she had her reasons. Besides the fact that she was a freshman, she wasn't feeling great.  "I was wrestling at 132, but I had been cutting weight pretty hardcore, getting down from 140." Mikayla was not feeling confident. "He was my first match of the day, I didn't suspect anything out of the ordinary from it, I assumed I'd put up a good fight, but he would probably come out victorious."

Jeff agreed. He says, "I didn't care that I was going against a girl. I just wanted to win badly." When Mikayla first viewed Jeff, she thought she would be in for a battle, but wasn't as intimidated as she thought she might be. "I thought he looked pretty tough, but once he stepped on the mat, I knew I had a chance."  She continues, "It was a confidence booster. He wasn't like my normal opponents, who were usually very muscular. I think me and him were on the same level."

When the match started Jeff thought he could end it early. Jeff says, "I thought I would just overpower her. So I just went out hard." However Mikayla stood her ground. The match was barely 10 seconds old and Jeff's plan had been broken. Jeff was leaning down and Mikayla used her momentum to chuck him to the ground. "She kinda threw me down. It looked like I took a shot but it wasn't really. She kinda just threw me."

Even though the match was in its infancy, Mikayla was up 2-0 on the scoreboard, but more importantly, started to gain confidence. "Once you've been wrestling as long as I have, you can pick up little things about a wrestler. How good they are, how hard they work in practice, I could tell that this time my hard work in the room would've paid off. I felt like I really had a shot with this match."

But now that Mikayla was up 2-0 and in control, she didn't want to blow it. "Starting off the match with an advantage is unfamiliar ground for me, I'm not gonna lie, It's usually a scramble to get any points, I was just trying to not mess up and get ahead of myself. Often times I get a little excited and rush through things instead of doing what I've practiced." Jeff was extremely nervous, "She was better than I expected. She was stronger than I expected."

Mikayla had to reign in her emotions, and remember to execute what she practiced. "Once I got behind him I was just so excited, I took my time and stuck to the basics and tried to sink in a half. I don't think it had a lot to with muscle, more just to do with technique. Once I actually got him, I got a little excited and he almost reversed me but I managed to keep him down. I wasn't even thinking about it, I just did what I knew."

Meanwhile Jeff, wasn't sure what to do. "When she turned me on my back I just wanted to make sure I wasn't pinned. I tried to do everything to put my shoulders up and kick my legs but I couldn't move because she was too strong."

In the end, Mikayla says she just does what her body tells her to do. "I really don't think when I'm wrestling. A lot of it is instinct. If I think, I over think and end up over thinking everything and it just never works out for me." But that doesn't mean she doesn't feel the emotion. As the pin was imminent, both wrestlers reflected on their feelings.

Jeff says, " I was praying the period would end but it didn't feel like it would end soon."  Mikayla meanwhile was ecstatic, "I was feeling really excited though. It seemed surreal. Victory feels better than you could ever put into words."

When the ref slammed the mat, the match was over. Mikayla had won.  

Mikayla says, "I was sorta just in awe. I did what I had to do. I was proud of myself, but remained humble." Jeff says, "Of course I was upset. I hate losing. I wish I did more. But I don't know what I could have done differently."

In the match, Mikayla never gave up a point. She never was in any trouble. She controlled the match the whole way. It was a first round pin. For someone who thought they did "Pretty terrible to be honest" it felt like an improbable win, but it really wasn't.  Mikayla puts in a lot of work, and cares about the sport. 

I think with perspective, Mikayla sees that.  "Now that I look back on it, it was just another match. I just executed what I've been training to do. Of course I was happy to have won, however I do have to set my goals for the future and strive to further my career, so that was just a stepping stone."

The future is bright for Mikayla, as this year, she just won a boys tournament.

True to her personality, Mikayla downplayed her accomplishment. "To be fair, I only had to win my first two matches to get first. Wasn't exactly a big achievement. " Maybe not, but she went into it with the right attitude, as always. "Basically I went into the tournament with a champions mindset, and I think that made a huge difference in the way I preformed."

Professional to the end.

The match with Jeff can be viewed by clicking the link below. 

Mikayla vs. Jeff

Improving One Place at a Time

The destination was the same, but the journey couldn't have been more different. Emily Levasseur was at the Maine High School State Championships and vying for 3rd place at the 113 pound division.

Last season, as a freshman Emily lost this very match, and finished in fourth place at 106 pounds.

In 2013, Emily was ecstatic when she placed 3rd in regionals to even make it to state. Then she lost her first match, won her next two, but faced the same boy that beat her originally. So the loss was not unexpected, and 4th place was a pretty cool destination.

This season, though she was in the exact same position, the scenario was completely different. Much like the preverbal "fat kid" who gets a participation medal when you play soccer at 5-years-old, everyone who wrestled in Class C made it to states this season, because there weren't enough schools who wrestled in Class C. So making it to states, wasn't an accomplishment. "This drove me to place as high as I could to prove that I should actually be there. "

But getting there proved to be harder than Emily imagined. The one thing that could stop Emily from competing at states was an injury. Four weeks prior to states, Emily competed in a very tough match, where for the majority of the match, the boy had control. But then the boy made a fatal mistake. He pissed her off.

It wasn't intentional. He just made a move where Emily hit her head. Emily had suffered a concussion. But instead of ending the match, which would have been understandable, Emily fought on. Which was bad news for her opponent. "Whenever I get hurt in a match, it's like a switch for me in my head...I just go into beast mode. I wasn't mad at him, I was mad in general."

That anger led her to come back, and put the boy in a body scissor. In the video the boy is flailing his legs 

trying to escape, but it was not to be as the ref slammed his hand to the mat. Emily had won.  You can view the video here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKZK-KYinac&feature=youtu.be

While Emily won, there was no thrill of victory. "I felt relieved the match was over...I just wanted to get it done because my head hurt so bad." Emily had won the battle, but was losing the war.

Because of the concussion Emily had to stop wrestling until states.    "I honestly thought I'd be back in the season within a week, I never thought I'd be out for 4 weeks. I got scared when I didn't get cleared the week before states." When she was cleared, Emily was ecstatic. "I was sooo happy!"

But now Emily was here...at states. "I was beyond nervous to get back on the mat, but at the same time I was ready. None of my opponents that day except for one had seen me wrestle before, so I’m sure they thought of me as just another weak girl wrestler."

As fate would have it, Emily's first opponent was also a girl. The match ended almost before it started, "All I did was throw a head & arm and it was over." The match lasted 16 seconds.

Her next match was against the only boy she had previously faced, and unfortunately for Emily, the result was the same, a loss. But not all losses are created equal and Emily remained upbeat. " I wasn’t too discouraged because I knew I put up a fight, and I already was focused on my next match. I knew I had to win this next match to advance to the consolation-finals."

Emily would face another girl and this one was 10 pounds heavier. "The match went easier than I thought it would. I pinned my opponent in a minute. I was extremely happy because I knew I was going to medal no matter what."

But now was her last match. If she loses, Emily was where she was last year, in fourth, if she wins, she comes in third. Her coach, let Emily know exactly what was at stake.  " As I was warming up for my last match, my coach came over to get me fired up. He told me that he expected me to win this match and if I did, Monmouth Academy would place the highest it ever has in the state tournament. So not only did I have the drive to beat my last year’s 4th place spot, but I had to do it for my team also."

"As soon as the head table called my name, my adrenaline started racing. My first look at him (Alex), I thought how strong he looked.  But I tried to push that aside because I knew I was strong too."

Alex was the 3rd seed and Emily was the 5th, so he was favored to win the match. Emily says, "I'm pretty sure he thought he was going to win that match, but I went in knowing I was going to win because I wanted it more than him."

Emily wasn't the only one that wanted "it more." The fans were clearly on her side. "When the ref blew the whistle to start the match it sounded like everyone in the entire place was cheering for me. It boosted my confidence level up. About 20 seconds into the match I threw him in a head & arm, which is a move I’m skilled at." The crowd erupted as Alex was on his back and it appeared victory for Emily was imminent. The crowd drove Emily. "When everyone was cheering for me, I started to squeeze and lift his head harder. He tried to re-role me but since I’m heaviest in my hips, I just sagged back. I felt my grip slipping so I changed up to a skull-crusher. I had him on his back for about 30 seconds.  "

But the ref didn't slap the mat, and eventually, Alex was able to get off his back. "My grip was still too loose, so I played it safe and let go of his head, so I could quickly follow behind him. I just stayed behind him  since I knew there was not much time left on the clock."

The period ended and while other wrestlers may have been upset the ref didn't signal the pin, Emily stayed focus and confident. "He was just very squirmy,  I knew I was going to get the pin eventually, so I wasn't worried."

While attempts to reach Alex were not successful, Emily tried to get into the mind of her opponent. " I think he was still confident, but at the same time aware that I wasn't going to be an easy match. I could tell he was going to fight hard because of his body language.. he moved more cautiously."

The second period was Alex's choice but he deferred to Emily. "I choose neutral because I knew I could throw him again. When the second period started, he grabbed tight wrist control and it was hard for me to get free, but I did. I locked up with him again and 

he practically was asking for the head and arm, so I threw him.

I think he was expecting to re-role me, but I just sagged again. I squeezed and lifted his head so hard he let out a squeal."

Emily knew that was a good sign. "It made me happy actually, because if I squeeze my opponents hard enough, they usually will give up. So I knew if I just held him a little longer, he will be pinned. It also made me feel strong!"

From the time Emily had Alex down to the time the ref slapped the mat was a full minute. 

Looking at the video there seemed to be several times the ref could have slapped the mat but Emily barely noticed. "The time seemed to fly by, it didn't even feel like I had him on his back for that long. All I was focused on was keeping him down because he was very strong. I believe I had him pinned a few times, but I think the ref wanted to be sure he was pinned."

When the ref called the pin,

Emily jumped up in the air and put both her arms up in triumph. "I was very proud of myself, probably a little more than I should have been haha.

I did a little fist bump as soon as he slammed the mat. I was just very proud of myself and proud to be representing Monmouth."

Emily didn't just impress teammates, coach and herself...she also impressed her opponent. " When I shook his hand, he said to me, “Holy *&*! , you’re strong!”

 Emily has two years left. Her freshman year she finished fourth, this year she finished third. Next year she'd like to finish 2nd, and by her senior years, "I want to finish first."

Improving one place at a time.

The match can be viewed here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z8RDLkZkRA&feature=youtu.be