3, 2, 1 ding ding ding! We have a winner! Her name is Ava Verador!.

Verador, a member of the Girls’ Wrestling team, has a background in other hand-to-hand combat sports, like Jiu-Jitsu. “Jiu-Jitsu introduced me to wrestling,” she said.

Add that to the fact that she is part of the ROTC program means that her life can be very busy from time to time, but she knows how to balance it with the requirements of her junior year.

She is currently wrestling in the 121 lb. class. Being able to practice and perfect a move is also very important.

“I wrestled last season, my sophomore year, which was super scary just because wrestling is a close contact sport and COVID was still pretty bad,” she said. “Thanks to COVID, not only I but also my teammates were unable to participate in Regionals.”

Wrestling is something she enjoys, but it’s not something she wants to do forever, but she has big plans ahead for her future after high school in 2023. She has another focus after graduation. “I hope to go to Stanford or UC Davis,” she said. “I want to join the military and go to school to become a physical therapist.”

Before she reaches that future, though, she has been spending her time in a variety of ways. She takes part in the Girl Scouts and helps her community in the process. She also enjoys working out and sleeping.

She is also a big sister, and her role model is her mother who inspires Verador to be a better person every day. “I have a brother who is 13, his name is Wesley.

Verador said that she wasn’t nervous and she remembers her first real tournament. “I pinned this one girl who had beaten me at novice a week before. Hearing my whole team cheer for me, and having my hand raised was the best feeling ever.”

“I’d like to thank my coaches Darius, Brown, and Correa for putting up with us and always believing in not only me, but the whole wrestling team,” she said.