By Mike Moguin
Whitney Bryant of Mustang took on a new sport a year ago and found out she likes it.
“My favorite sport I play is wrestling! It’s really fun,” she said.
As a freshman a year ago, Bryant quickly emerged as among the best in the state in her weight class (135 pounds).
“The best accomplishment during my life was placing third in the state in my first year of wrestling,” Bryant said.
She won the third-place match with a pin of Sapulpa’s Kaydence Sherwood in the Girls Class 6A 135-pound bracket with a fall time of 1:11. Now a sophomore, Bryant hopes to exceed last year’s finish.
“This sport has taught me how to stay mentally strong when I’m at my lowest, and that helped me to keep pushing every day and be better,” she said.
Although she could face any one of them in competition, Bryant said she is inspired by the girls on Broken Arrow’s team. “They’re amazing wrestlers. Their skills inspire me to be as strong as they are,” Bryant said.
There is no favorite college wrestling team for Bryant at this point, “but eventually, I’ll find the one just for me,” she said.
But there is an individual favorite wrestler in the collegiate ranks that she likes.
“My favorite college wrestler I look up to is Tamara Humphries,” Bryant said. Humphries is a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
Some of Bryant’s hobbies outside the wrestling mat are sewing, fishing, going to the gym, drawing, and listening to music.
When she goes out on the mat with her team to warm up for a dual or match, “My favorite part of representing my high school is seeing other little kids being inspired and wanting to try out wrestling,” Bryant said.
Follow Whitney on Instagram @whitney_bryant_2009
