Story Created:
Jan 8, 2008 at 4:38 PM EDT
Story Updated:
Jan 8, 2008 at 6:36 PM EDT
SOUTH BEND — Confucius once said, "The greatest glory is not in never falling, but rising every time we fall."
To a 'T' that saying describes the mindset of this Riley girl wrestler!
It's not every day that you see a girl wrestling with the boys, but Riley's Shelby Broockerd is doing her best to buck that trend.
"On my first day in here this one kid was like, ‘You wrestle? Well good luck to ya!’ I said, ‘What, do you think I can’t win?’ He goes, 'You can't beat me.’ I pinned him in 10 seconds," beamed Broockerd, a junior at the school.
Even though things don't always go as planned, Broockerd is full of "mat moxie." Growing up in a family of nine brothers didn't hurt either.
"Even though I used to be a cheerleader, I kind of didn’t want to be, because I hated the whole, 'Oh My God' [thing]. I just like the down in the dirt, ‘Just rub some dirt on it, it’ll be OK.’” That's what my Dad always said — ‘Rub some dirt on it!’” said Broockerd.
Anyone that knows the sport of wrestling knows that pain is a part of the equation. And Shelby's as good at taking it as she is dishing it out.
Broockerd told a story about a recent match: "I lost by 3 points, but I had him on his back. He was saying, 'Oh dang, oh dang.' Only it was a different word. He was like, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, I’m almost going to get pinned!’”
"She was running around here cleaning up a bloody nose yesterday,” said her coach Bill Flatt. “She gets those injuries as well, but she wipes them off, comes back on the mat, and does what she’s got to do.”
On that "to do" list is continued success this year — she's already up to four wins in her 152 lb. weight class — and a better finish in this summer's USA Wrestling Freestyle Tournament, where she placed 5th last year — against all girls, mind you.
"I just like to win. I hate to lose,” said Broockerd.
Clearly here's a win-win situation for a female not afraid to mix things up with the fellas!
"I love contact sports, they're awesome for me. And it's a great outlet for anger, just in case I get mad, and I am a red-head, you know! I like wrestling, it's just awesome,” she said.
