Last year, Jayden Huesca-Rodriguez made headlines as the school’s first girls’ wrestling State champion. Now, she is back on the mats, preparing for all-new opponents and competitions. She spoke to the Wildcat Chronicle about some of her experiences as a wrestler and soccer player.

What made you want to join wrestling?

What made me join wrestling was my I had a friend, her name was Isabella, and she motived me to join wrestling; she talked to me about it, and then I tried it out and I liked it. I liked that it was really aggressive.

Tell me about wrestling this year.

I’m super excited for this new season. I can’t wait to bring more girls in, and hopefully our WEGO wrestling team has a lot of accomplishments this year.

What keeps you motivated?

Wrestling is healthy for you, it gets you in good shape. It gets you good muscle and then it’s just tactics: learning how to move faster and things like that. That motivates me. And you know, wanting to win another State championship.

Would you like to join any other sport other than soccer or wrestling?

I feel like I would want to do volleyball, but that is not something that I know I would like to do; I just feel like I would be interested in it.

How did you feel when you saw the streets singing with your name [after winning the championship]?

I feel like that’s when it really hit me. I was like, ‘oh wow, this is serious.’ ‘Cause I was still shocked. Like, I still couldn’t realize what I did, but then, after I saw my poster thing [hanging in the wrestling room], it’s when it hit me. I’m like, ‘oh like this had a very big impact not just in my school, but in the whole West Chicago community.’

How did you feel when they did a [drumline] for you at the end of the day?

I was really nervous. I didn’t know what to expect, but it was all good at the end of the day.

Do you have any advice for girls who would like to join sports?

Go ahead and try something new; that’s what I did. You never know how far you can go, and you can make it really far. And if you really like the sport, and if it is what your heart is telling you to do, do it and do it with all your heart, do it with all of your energy, all your motivation. Put your head into the game, and if you are positive, the game will go good. Don’t be thinking negative at any time of the game or match or whatever sport it is that you are doing, but just stay positive and you’ll do a really good job. And don’t give up. We all fail at something, but you get back up and you do better.