Junior Genesis Garcia competed at the State Wrestling Championships after winning the title of Section 1 Girls Wrestling Champion. This was her second time qualifying for the highly competitive state competition.

Garcia’s seventh-grade teacher, Mr. Iasiello, introduced wrestling to her when she was just thirteen. She began training in eighth grade and said that she fell “in love with the sport.” She described her favorite part of wrestling as being able to attain tremendous growth in a short period of time, making it welcoming to athletes who start on the later side.

Garcia’s junior year season brought astonishing results. After just four years in the sport, she won first place in her weight class at the Section 1 Championships, moving on to represent White Plains High School at the NYSPHSAA Girls Wrestling Championships. At states, Garcia advanced to the center of the bracket, an impressive achievement but not the result that she was hoping for. However, since last year’s state competition, she noted significant improvements in “not just my wrestling but my mentality going into the arena.”

Throughout her career, Garcia has battled with accepting her own achievements. “I used to feel like an imposter whenever I was ranked in a big tournament,” she said. In recent years, though, she has learned to recognize her achievement as a product of years of hard work and dedication to wrestling.

Garcia is looking forward to her last season competing for WPHS, with high expectations for herself. She is hoping to place at states and has plans to continue wrestling in college. Her hope is that her own contributions to women’s wrestling can help expand the sport, paving the way for more girls to follow in her footsteps.