For Mason High junior Cecilia Williams, wrestling runs through her bloodline. She is the only girl on the varsity boys wrestling team, competing in the 120-125 pound weight class.
Despite being the only girl on the team, she is defined by her talent. Williams has won multiple championships and regionals, in the girls and boys brackets. She ended the 24-25 season with a 31-8 record in her class.
“My dad did it (wrestling),” Williams said. “My older siblings used to do it, and I used to watch him when I was growing up.”
Mason Head Coach Brian Martel said Williams’ presence on the team is important, as she shows her determination every day.
“Her work ethic, she's just been wrestling for so long,” Martel said. “She's so tough positionally and she puts in the time. She wrestles off season and she wrestles in the summer. She competes against the best boys around the state and the best girls around the country. All of that has continued to let her climb the ladder.”
The adjustment to when Williams first joined the team took time, but her teammates see her as just another wrestler.
“I think it took a year or two to kind of really get past the whole, I'm just as good as all of you guys,” Martel said. “Once we got into year two and three, it became well accepted and she's just a great part of the team. Just again, she doesn't look at it like I want to be the best girl wrestler or the best guy wrestler. I just want to be the best wrestler overall.”
Williams said she doesn’t think about being the only girl on the team, it’s just about wrestling.
“When I go out there, it's just like, I don't think of them as boys, I just wrestle them,” Williams said. “I work out a lot and practice all the time. So, I feel like that helps me compete against them.”
Sophomore wrestler Caden Byrum is one of Williams’ teammates and a usual sparring partner. He said Williams helps everyone around her grow as a wrestler.
“It's great, actually she works really hard to try to get better and she doesn't just try to get herself better, she tries to get everyone else around her better at the same time,” Byrum said. “She works really hard during practice. If you have a question, she will always help you and if you do something wrong, she'll help make it better.”
Willams understands the impact she has on the girls in the sports community. She may only see herself as just a wrestler, but the younger girls admire her as a female athlete.
“So, afterwards, I get a lot of girls coming up to me all the time,” Williams said. “So, I do it for the little girls too, because they look up to me all the time for that.”
Williams is going into her senior year of high school where she plans to continue wrestling. After college she wants to take her skills to a higher level.
“After, I'm going to get into Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) or Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC),” Williams said. “So, I really want to do that.”
Martel has watched Williams grow as an athlete for the last three years and he anticipates for her to excel wherever she takes her talent.
“She’ll be really tough to hurt,” Martel said. “Just her strength to weight ratio is so good. You're talking about a 120 to125 pound girl that's super strong. I mean, she goes and starts doing pull ups, and all the guys are looking at her like, wow, she's really got some good strength. So, a transition to something like that (MMA), she's already kind of fearless when it comes to wrestling. And MMA, she’s trained at it before, so I think she’ll do a great job.”
Even with all of her accomplishments, Williams still has moments where she has to ground herself and remember where she started.
“Whenever I start struggling, I just look back and think about all my accomplishments and just like the little steps I took to get to them,” Williams said. “And so, whenever I think something's too hard, I just look back at what I did.”