The Warren girls wrestling season has begun and looks for a path for more wrestlers than last year to make state. Assistant Coach Chico Adams said they want at least seven girls to make it to state this year. Last year the girls placed ninth overall.
“Even though it’s a tough sport, you’re around a bunch of people that are just quality, they’re supportive, helpful and engaging,” Adams said. “Try it, don’t be afraid to get hurt because we’re here to teach you how not to.”
All of the girls have a lot of skill and determination they bring to the team. This includes seniors McKinzie Cole, Aminah Rusunuguko-Taylor and Rakyah Rivers. All three being in their final year on the team, they all want to go big or go home.
Cole is in her second year of wrestling with the Warren girls team. She said she had always wanted to participate in the team but was in another winter sport until she realized she enjoyed wrestling more. Being a senior, she has many of the younger girls who possibly look up to her, and it makes her want to work harder so she doesn’t disappoint the support of her family, friends, classmates and teammates.
“I feel a certain leadership with the new people coming in because not too long ago I was in the same position and have grown so much in the span of a year,” Cole said. “It gives me more inspiration to pour into our new wrestlers.”
While the team works together in duals against other teams, they also individually compete in tournaments as well. The duals are all of the girls coming together to gain team points using their own personal skills to help the team as a whole. Tournaments are more solo-based and personal, and all the girls are in their own weight class where they compete against many girls in the same weight class to see who comes out on top.
“Every year our girls step up and place higher than they did the year before so it’s hard to make assumptions now,” Cole said. “All I do know is that the girls who work the hardest and don't waste a day of training always come out of the gate either placing semi-state or state.”
Rusunuguko-Taylor began her journey on the wrestling team as a freshman, and with it being her last year on the team she wants to make it to state her and show the people around her what she is truly capable of. She has a lot of experience with lessons her younger teammates that look up to her can learn from, including how she stays focused on upcoming events.
“When I practice I like to think about the event that's right in front of me, not something that's three weeks away so I don’t go over what I should be doing,” ” Rusunuguko-Taylor said.
She is very confident that she can make it to state this year, as she placed second in the 2024 125 [weight class] IHSGW.
Rivers joined the team her sophomore year after being anxious to join at first, but she then went on to go to state her junior year. Being an upperclassman she knows there’s always room for her to improve. She knew someone who was scared to join the team and encouraged them to try it out and taught them how to wrestle, and that person then went on to go to state.
“I feel like that was a big part of me teaching her how to wrestle because I was there for her when a lot of people weren’t,” Rivers said. “Wrestling isn’t for everybody, but that doesn’t stop you from trying because a lot of times you have to come out of your comfort zone.”