A decision made by a group of cheerleading judges at Scott Memorial Middle School propelled Alyssa Waller in the opposite direction.
No short skirts and pom-poms for Waller; she decided to get down and dirty. And stinky. And sweaty.
“I didn’t make the cheerleading team in sixth grade, so I thought I’d wrestle,” she said. “I had gotten into jiu-jitsu and thought it would be fun, like jiu-jitsu is.”
Four years later, the George Wythe freshman is Wythe County’s only female high school wrestler.
She enjoys the half-nelsons, take downs and chicken wings.
“I like wrestling and being on a team,” she said. “I like the team aspect and how we are like family. But it’s a lot tougher than anything I’ve done before. It’s difficult, but the guys are beatable. The guys are either intimidated by me or they just want to get it over with.”
Waller’s parents, Clayton and Paula Waller, were thrilled when Alyssa decided to wrestle. Alyssa’s little sister, Olivia, wrestles at Scott Memorial Middle School. She also has a brother, Bryce, at Spiller Elementary and a 4-year-old sister, Lily. They all train in jiu-jitsu.
“We are pretty heavily involved in jiu-jitsu and martial arts and wrestling,” Paula Waller said. “We are not big football fans, but we are UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), MMA and wrestling fans.
It’s one-on-one and, win or lose, it’s all on your shoulders. It all falls on you and your personal best. We just enjoy that kind of sport.”
Paula Waller said her daughter’s teammates have made Alyssa feel included.
“It’s like she has an extended family with them being big brothers. They look out for her, but tease her, too. She feels like she fits in.”
As for the testosterone-filled wrestling room, Alyssa said it’s manageable.
“Some people smell a little bit, but not too many,” she said. “The sweat and stuff is not too bad.”
Fellow GWHS wrestlers Micah Dunford and David Marable said, sure Waller is a girl, but don’t count her out.
“She does pretty good,” Marable, 16, said. “It’s really hard to throw her around; she’s a pretty tough girl.”
It took a while for the boys in the wrestling room to get used to practicing with a female, Dunford, 15, said.
“At first, it was awkward because we are taught not to put our hands on girls like that, but you get over it fairly quickly, especially when you practice with a girl. With her background in MMA (mixed martial arts), she has it down pretty good. She gives us a fight. But you go out there and do what you need to do to win.”
Marable agreed that wrestling Waller was odd at first.
“I really didn’t want to wrestle a girl,” he said. “We are taught not to put our hands on one. But they are there for the same reason you are.”
Waller’s record is 14-16, which is pretty good for a freshman wrestler, said GWHS wrestling coach Matt Lamrouex. If Waller places fourth or higher this weekend at the regional tournament, she will head to the state tournament. She recently won first place at an all-female tournament at Ferrum College.
“Her record is good for any wrestler, male or female,” Lamrouex said. “There is a lot of potential for her to do that, and we can get her to state her freshman year. She is very passionate about wrestling. She’s doing very well; I’m very proud of her.”
Lamrouex and Greg Ring, Waller’s MMA coach, both commented on Waller’s strong work ethic. After wrestling practice, she heads straight to Southwest Martial Arts Academy, where she trains in both combat jiu-jitsu and MMA.
“Alyssa is among the hardest-working individuals in our gym,” Ring said. “She possesses the self-discipline to push herself beyond the normal boundaries and is always in constant pursuit of personal excellence. This is not always a common trait of students, especially not students her age. We are very blessed to have some teenagers in our school who work as hard or harder than anyone else in our gym. Alyssa is definitely one of them that sets a very good example in the area of work ethic.”
Ring said that MMA and wrestling complement one another and that wrestling techniques are heavily incorporated into the MMA program.
“Myself, along with the other coaches at SWMA, believe Alyssa has the potential to be an outstanding MMA competitor,” he added.
Female high school wrestlers like Waller are not unheard of, but they are not that common, either, Lamrouex said.
“We are seeing it more often, but not on every team,” he said. “I think it is harder for females because no boy wants to lose to a girl. I’ll just be honest with you … boys just don’t want to be ridiculed.”
But, he added, “No boy should be ashamed to lose to her. She’s very strong. She can do as many push-ups and pull-ups and sit-ups as most boys. She is really tough. She really pushes herself.
“Alyssa is the first female wrestler I’ve coached, and I’m glad it is her because she is a tough girl and she is just like one of the boys,” Lamrouex said.
Well, not exactly like the boys.
“Everyone calls her Princess,” Dunford said.
“Yeah, she kind of likes being called Princess,” Marable said.
“She kind of smiles,” Dunford added.
Courtesy of: SWVA Today