People who follow Alyvia Fiske tend to spout one superlative after another about the wrestling season the Vintage High junior is having, and why not?
After by losing by third-period pin in her first match of the CIF State Championships on Feb. 27, 2015, she came back that day and the next with six straight wins — four pins, a 16-0 technical fall, and a 7-0 decision in the third-place match at 150 pounds.
That was an entire calendar year ago. This season, at 160 pounds, she’s 35-0 with 34 pins — the only non-pin behind a 9-0 victory in the championship match of the toughest regular-season tournament in this part of the country, the Napa Valley Girls Classic.
She is also yet to give up a point in a match. But you won’t hear he saying how awesome she is or what she’s done. When asked about it Wednesday, she talked as efficiently as she wrestles.
“I think a big part of it is I’m more confident than I was before, which helps, so I’m able to go out there and get it done,” she said. “But I try to be humble.”
Fiske and 170-pound senior teammate Kelly Swanson will both return to the state meet, which takes place Friday and Saturday at Visalia Convention Center. They qualified with first- and third-place finishes, respectively, at the CIF Northern Section/Sac-Joaquin Section Women’s Masters Championships last weekend at McNair High in Stockton.
It’s got to be scary for opponents to face someone they might not even score against. It’s not for Swanson, who faces Fiske every practice.
“I don’t think she’s visually intimidating. If you didn’t know who she was, you’d be like ‘I got this’ — until you started wrestling her. Then you’d be like ‘Um, just kidding!’”
Fiske said she goes into every match with the same strategy.
“Usually I go out there and try to get a shot and then try to run for my pin right after that,” she explained.
She came to Vintage with high expectations, but went 0-2 at the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section meet as a freshman.
“I won state titles in seventh and eighth grade and went to nationals in Michigan and took second in eighth grade, which was a cool experience,” she recalled. “Everyone expected a lot out of me, but I was just a freshman. I was really scared and timid. Last year I got a little bit better, and this year I’m really going after it.”
She gave up some 2-point reversals and 1-point escapes last season, but allowed only two 2-point takedowns, both to the eventual state champion.
Going from that to allowing no points, not having a single ‘off’ day, has been mostly a mental improvement.
“A lot of it is just having more mat time, and the mental stuff, which you have to figure out on your own,” she said.
She said her parents, Dan Fiske — who coached youth wrestling for 10 years — and Julie Cooksey, are very supportive but not overbearing.
“My parents are right there, especially my dad. He’s my No. 1 fan,” she said. “He just lets me go out there and do my thing; there’s no pressure.”
Fiske, who recorded a 4.3 GPA last semester, plans to pursue a medical career such as pediatrics when she graduates a year and a half from now.
Her second-biggest fan could be Vintage girls coach Steve Denna.
“It wouldn’t matter if Alyvia wrestled at 160, 170 or 189 this year, she’d be doing just as well,” he said. “She’s in a routine now where she’s mentally prepared and does her thing. When she misses something, it’s a little thing — head position, wrist control, hand position, body position, maybe her knees are down instead of being on her toes — but there’s always room for improvement.”
He wonders himself how Fiske has managed to not have an bad day at the office all year.
“I’ve thought about that a lot, just what we as coaches are witnessing right now. You always talk about having the perfect season with an athlete or team, but to talk to a wrestler about it is different. I had a discussion with Alyvia early on and I said ‘Let’s have a perfect season,’ and she cranked it up after that, and she’s been doing it at such an elite level.
“I’ve been coaching for about 30 years and I’ve never heard of a wrestler not giving up a point in a season. I can’t even quantify a wrestler not giving up a point. When you talk to another wrestler about it, they sit back and have a look on their face like ‘I can’t believe what you just told me that.’”
Denna, an off-campus coach, doesn’t take too much credit for Fiske’s perfection. However, he does think that having a morning job that allows him to be truly a full-time coach has helped her and her teammates.
“The stability of having a coach who can be at every practice and travel is big,” he said. “If you don’t have the same coach watching you from one day to the next, it can be a little confusing. It’s nice to be able to go to practices and see what their weaknesses are, then go to tournaments and make sure they don’t get put in those situations. If I know she’s having trouble staying on top in practice, I might have her get down and get on her feet and score a takedown. You can see what they do well and what they don’t do so well and direct them toward their strengths.”
Swanson absorbed her ninth loss of the season in the section quarterfinals last weekend, getting pinned in the third period by Atwater sophomore Courtney Juarez. But she pinned her other four opponents — including American Canyon sophomore Adrienne Dominguez, who went on to advance with a fifth-place finish. Dominguez said Tuesday she has measured her progress each of the many times she’s faced Swanson.
“We’re friends now, it’s kinda cool,” Swanson said. “I like wrestling her. She’s good competition.”
Swanson said she had defeated Juarez earlier in the year, and that last Friday’s loss wasn’t one of her best matches.
“I wrestled her differently this time, not with my upper body like the first time. This time I was trying to get after my shots,” she explained. “I learned a lot from it. I’ll watch video of it because it’s possible I’ll wrestle her at state. This is the weekend that matters, and I’d like to go as far as I can, put all my effort into it, and hopefully follow up with a college career.”
Swanson, who carries a 3.5 GPA and also wants to go into the medical field, so far has most liked the University of Cumberlands in Kentucky.
“It’s in the middle of nowhere, but the campus is gorgeous,” she said. “Hopefully I’ll get in touch that coach this weekend and see where it goes.”
Swanson’s parents, Monica and Johnnie Linn, also have two very young daughters and can’t get to all of her tournaments.
“My mom doesn’t know too much about wrestling because she’s a swim coach, But she’s been really supportive and all into it,” Swanson said. “She knows I want to take it to college and that the whole sport has changed me and who I was. My stepdad doesn’t know about wrestling, either, but they text ‘Hey, good luck today’ before every tournament. It’s the best support.”
She said wrestling has changed her for the better.
“I used to be really timid about everything, pretty self-conscious, but wrestling opened me up. I definitely am not scared of anything. It makes you stand a little taller, and I needed that, in school and sports,” she said. “It makes you mentally strong, and it’s a physically demanding sport so you feel stronger with your body and that you can handle yourself. It boosts your confidence.”
Swanson said dropping from 189 pounds to 170 this year, and staying at that weight, has helped her place at every tournament. She’s proud of that, and doesn’t try to compare herself to Fiske.
“That’s kinda bumming if I do that,” she said. “The truth is, I’ve learned a lot wrestling Alyvia. If I had to wrestle another girl with a different attitude, but same record and everything, it wouldn’t be as helpful. She not only takes the time to beat me up, she takes the time to help me learn from it.”
Denna finds Swanson’s feats almost as impressive as Fiske’s, especially getting to the state meet in each of her only two seasons of wrestling.
“I remember her first day of practice, and then telling her the next day ‘You’re going to be a state qualifier,’ and her looking at me as if she had to poke herself. She didn’t think that was possible for a first-year kid, but I said ‘Hey, anything’s possible in this sport if you want it, and you’ll get it,” the coach said. “In her first year she went from not knowing a whole lot, to section champion and state qualifier. That’s big time. She didn’t’ repeat as section champ, but a two-time state qualifier doesn’t happen a lot — particularly with the growth of girls wrestling. They had to add a subsection meet this year, making that journey that much harder.
“Kelly is driven. She’s got an idea and direction of where she wants to go. She wants to go to college and further her education and understands wrestling can help direct her down that avenue. Luckily, she’s pretty good at it. There will be coaches at this tournament carrying manila envelopes with scholarship offers and she’s going to get a couple of those. She’s going to have some choices to make coming up pretty quick.”
Courtesy of: Napa Valley Register
Photo: Andy Wilcox