Final X Rutgers: 5 of 10 2019 Senior Women World Team members determined
“It’s life or death . . . it’s your job . . . there’s no way in heck I’m going to let someone take my spot, my world team spot, my whatever it is . . .You know we all want to win that’s why everyone plays a game . . . everybody up here wants to win and I think that’s what makes it so fun because it’s one-on-one, it’s individual and we’re all going out there to do our best and make it a fight . . .”
2019 Senior World Team member, Jenna Burkert
Half of the women’s world team was decided at the conclusion of today’s Final X Rutgers competition. It’s been great just watching these women sharpen and refine their skills in such a precise way over the years and then again just since the spring.
So far we’ve got:
- 72kg – Victoria Francis (TMWC) – overcoming adversity
- 68kg – Tamyra Mensah-Stock (TMWC/OTC/Rudis) – believing in her potential
- 65kg – Forrest Molinari (TMWC/Hawkeye WC) – stepping into her season
- 57kg – Jenna Burkert (U.S. Army WCAP) – living an integrated life
- 50kg – Whitney Conder (U.S. Army WCAP) – every day matters
Of the ten women on the mats today, two currently represent the collegiate world: Alyvia Fiske (Simon Fraser University) and Alex Glaude (McKendree University).
Not a single match was won without contest.
Press Conference Takeaways
After watching the press conferences yesterday I was semi-scrolling through some of the comments and came across one along the lines of, “wrestlers give terrible interviews”. Maybe a little true? But also I guess just remember that you’re not watching public speakers, you’re watching individuals and any expectation from them on how to be is just our not understanding and meeting them where they are. Either way, there were some golden nuggets in those 2, 45ish minute, sessions.
Burkert & Leathers on weight changes
For a really long time, and still for some today, there’s this misconception that to be competitive in wrestling an athlete needs to cut weight. This is a fallacy of our sport. It’s also a stereotype that our senior level athletes are actively pushing back on in real time via their day-to-day actions. Senior level athletes aren’t cutting weight last minute – as Jenna mentioned, she waited too long in 2016 and it cost her some matches. Jenna said she’s been truly disciplined and it shows – her development has been phenomenal. Leathers made the decision to move up a weight as she’s grown and developed instead of fighting the gain. Timing wise, this was a smart move. Leathers has some work to do getting used to the new feel of her body at the weight competitively.
Also, if you follow any of the women that competed today on social media you can visibly see that their work ethics aren’t just surface level. They’re putting in the work by being disciplined with their nutrition and it’s just melded into a lifestyle. It’s a lifestyle of respect – respect for their bodies, respect for their positions and respect for the process.
Conder, Anthony and Francis on adversity
Loss, adversity and success are events in life that demand individual responses. Their stories vary greatly, but all of them are important lessons.
No one wants to lose, but it’s really important to gather perspective and understand that losses are impactful moments, not defining moments.
“Losses have helped me check all the gaps in my wrestling”
Victoria Anthony
Francis was out for an entire year due to a USADA violation from a tainted supplement.
“I couldn’t do the best training or have the ideal training situation but I knew I could give my best effort. That’s what put me here. I might not have had the best technicians in the room or the best training partners, but I worked too hard this year to give anything up”
2019 Senior World Team Member Victoria Francis
Conder went through a traumatic personal loss in her family that solidified her upward trajectory.
“You really have to live everyday to the fullest because you never know when that day will come”
2019 World Team Member Whitney Conder
Glaude on Greatness – repeat it 1,000 times
One of my favorite quotes of all time is from Marianne Williamson’s poem, Our Deepest Fear, and Glaude summed it up in a few different words.
“ . . . you never really know who’s watching you and you never know who needs that affirmation and permission to chase after their own dreams . . . I realize that throughout my wrestling, throughout school, throughout working hard, throughout being an example how many people were counting on me to do what I wanted to do so they could have courage to do it themselves . . . not everyone gets the opportunity to affect other peoples lives without even trying and I feel like that’s really a blessing and so it’s so much more than wrestling. I hope that any little girl out there or any little boy out there who is unsure about themselves that they can watch me and watch all of us and realize that they can do whatever it is that they want to . . . it’s not going to be easy just like wrestling’s isn’t easy, but we cant waste life just being unsure of ourselves”
Alex Glaude, McKendree Women’s Wrestling
10/10 recommend watching:
Mensah-Stock on the power of belief – again, repeat it 1,000 times
A lot of times, as coaches or outsiders, we see athletes that don’t realize the magnitude of their abilities. Whether that inhibits their success depends on their mental game. But we’re fortunate that Tamyra openly talks about hers and realized it through loss. Mensah-Stock has been growing and learning with speed, and we’re so excited to see her continue.
Cox with perspective
J’den Cox is obviously not a woman wrestler, but his response to Gary Abbot’s question about moving on from success and being the target was just really unforgettable.
“I think you make the mistake of thinking that I am a target. As soon as the moment [2018 world championships] passed I was no longer a world champion in my mind. My job is to forget the moment completely – I want to get back to taste it but I forget it. I’ve won nothing. There is no target on my back. People are coming for me to take me out but at the same time I’m coming to take them out . . . I don’t have an opportunity at a world title right now, I’m on no team – I haven’t made a team, I haven’t gotten anything so for me that world title means nothing anymore. It’s a new year, it’s a new day. As much as they [people] may put a target on my back they’re wasting their time thinking that’s what’s going to slow me down. I’m looking to take everybody else out”
2019 Men’s Senior World Team Member J’den Cox
Again, 21st century perspective portrayed on the available platform
“People are just people. We may speak different languages, they may have different cultural standards & whatnot, but for the most part people are people and what people really want is love, kindness and respect”
2019 Men’s Senior World Team Member J’den Cox
We’re looking forward to the Final X Lincoln next weekend where the remaining 5 weights will be determined.
