Alisha Smith stands out more than the average high school athlete. Training since 8th grade, Smith claims her title as Pleasant Valley’s only female wrestler. This will be her 5th year competing on the mat, with nothing standing in her way.

She began wrestling on a whim. Smith said, “My friend was filling out the wrestling managing form and asked me to do it with her. But I didn’t want to manage, I wanted to wrestle.” Her coach was her science teacher, who at first, didn’t want her to participate on the wrestling team. “I had to bring my parents into it, and getting me on the team was a hassle at first,” Smith said. After her first season on the mats, Smith joined the Moline Wrestling Club where she met some of her favorite coaches and mentors. She believes that the coaching staff at Moline Wrestling Club is a large reason she is still in wrestling today. “They kept me in it, they encouraged me and worked with me to train and become the best I could be,” said Smith.

Making the switch to Pleasant Valley was an easy one for Smith. “Coach Larsen really wanted me on the wrestling team, which made the transition a lot easier. I would say over half of my friends come from the wrestling team,” she stated.

Being a female on the wrestling team may seem daunting to some, but Smith doesn’t let common stereotypes bring her, or her skills, down. “Some guys will go really really hard, because they don’t want to lose to a girl.” Smith said. “It is definitely a lot more intimidating for me when I know I’m wrestling someone who is determined to take me down, just because I’m a girl, but I just make it my priority to be the best I can be and try harder than all the guys in the room. I work harder to prove myself.”

Again, as a female other challenges arise with a sport as demanding as wrestling. Making weight is a large component of the sport. This is when the athletes will cut obscene amounts of pounds to wrestle in a certain weight class. For males, it is easy to drop and gain pounds quickly, due to a faster metabolic rate. “I had to cut 20 pounds in two weeks last year, I would definitely not recommend that,” Smith stated. She managed to shed off the weight in such little time by hours spent in the sauna, hard workouts and sweating off water weight at the YMCA. She trains year round to make it to where she is today. Battling injuries is just another part of the title. Smith has torn her meniscus in her right knee, fought tendonitis in her left knee, dealt with various back injuries, ankle injuries and shoulder injuries. Yet, she persists on.

Looking at her senior season, Smith is unsure about wrestling in the future. However, she knows that for now, she stakes her ground as the girl putting away her high heels for wrestling shoes–and she’s proud of it.