Have you ever wanted to try something new? Hello, I am Kaydence Dettman, a female wrestler. I started wrestling in my 6th grade year with one of my friends. Soon after we started, I fell in love, but it wasn’t always love. Trust me, I went through a good amount of nerves and fear. Not only were we jumping into a primarily boys’ sport at the time, but we also didn’t know what we were doing. We were the only girls at the time in our school. Nobody took us seriously, and we faced a lot of mean comments. Not only from the guys on our team but also from our friends, peers, and even adults.

No matter what happened, I still loved every minute. Wrestling became a release from the bad things in my life. All the stress and pain just left anytime I stepped on a mat. Yes, there were times my body hurt; there were times I was mentally done and didn’t think I could handle it anymore. Every single time, I came back stronger, though. Wrestling taught me mental toughness. It also gave me lifelong friends, boys and girls. It gave me so many happy times, but it also gave me my biggest heartbreak.

This past year, I went through surgery on my shoulder. The first thing the doctor said was that I probably would never be able to wrestle again, and it felt like someone took a hammer to my heart. I’m a freshman in high school. This was supposed to be my first year on the team. This will be the second year my school has a girls’ team. I had one dream: to grow girls’ wrestling at my school. To be a leader, step up, and take charge.

I may not be able to wrestle as of right now, but you would be silly if you thought I wasn’t going to try to grow girls’ wrestling. A piece of my heart is still holding on to hope that you will see me back on those mats once again. For now, I will do everything in my power to encourage all the women around me to try something new. You never know what could happen; you could fall in love like me. Especially if you have nothing as a winter sport. I encourage you to try one practice; that’s all. If you absolutely hate it, then I won’t bug you. If there is some part of you, even if it’s just a glimpse, that thinks, “Hey, I might like this,” just try it. Talk to me, reach out, I can set up something for you just to try.

I absolutely love wrestling, and one of my favorite things about being a female wrestler is how I have seen it grow. I would like to thank anyone who has been one of my teammates, coaches, opponents, or parents of others. Without you all, I would have never fallen in love with the sport. Most of all, I want to thank my friend; she knows who she is because without her, I never would’ve taken the leap to try. I hope I can encourage some of you reading this, like she encouraged me.

Thank you for reading this, and always remember, if you don’t try, you never know what could’ve happened.