Lily Valerio '19

Valerio talks about how she's taken to her new sport, about her first win and about how she sees her place in Brooks history.

How does it feel to be the school's first woman wrestler?
I was actually pretty shocked that I'm the first one — it's the year 2019! It's pretty sweet, but I also feel sometimes as if I don't have a role model, someone who's come before me. In fact, I feel as though I'm the role model for the next girl, so I feel a lot of pressure to do a good job and perform well. The team and [former head coach Pat] Hitschler have been very supportive. It's like I'm one of the guys! I feel totally comfortable here.

You've never wrestled before. Why try it now, in your sixth-form year?
Right. I mean, now or never! I've always loved to play sports, but my family doesn't have the money and my hometown doesn't have the structure to allow me to. Wrestling seemed accommodating because of its different weight classes and because it doesn't matter what sex you are. My first three years at Brooks, I didn't have another girl to try it with. Then this year, one of my closest friends [Axidi Iglesias '19, who finished the season as manager] said that she'd try it with me. I really wanted to learn the technical aspects of the sport and learn how to do all the moves. It's physically demanding. I think it's the hardest thing you can do. It also requires a lot of strategy.

What's the most surprising thing you've learned about yourself through wrestling?
I can be really aggressive! I really like physical contact. It's empowering to drive into someone and make them fall. We don't really give girls an opportunity to try that and to learn that. I'd love to see Brooks continue to encourage girls to wrestle and continue to give girls a chance to try it out. For me, it's not about winning or losing a match, it's about implementing what you learn in practice and making good decisions.

But, you did win your match against Milton Academy.
It was my first match on the varsity level. I was wrestling another girl. It was daunting — I knew I had all eyes on me, and I felt pressure to win. I played my cards well and I went for her legs a lot, and at the end I just made sure she was pinned down for a good few seconds. When I heard the ref slam the mat and ring the bell, I thought, "Wow!"

You seem very confident. Has wrestling changed the way in which you move through the world?
I've been exposed to a lot of misconceptions about girls, and challenging them has made me a much more confident person outside the wrestling room. I'll challenge people who think I can't do this because of my sex. Even if girls have been wrestling for a while now, it's still rare to see a woman wrestler. If you try your best to beat me, I'll try my best to beat you, and that will make all the difference.