WCWA National Champion Rachel Watters Tells Her Quarantine Story
Rachel Watters competing in 2019 at Hollywood vs. Bollywood BTS event in Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of Tony Rotundo / WrestlersAreWarriors.com
by Rachel Watters
Oklahoma City senior Rachel Watters was the 155-pound 2020 WCWA National Champion and a 4x WCWA All-American.
Thursday, March 12th started out as a really great day. We didn’t have to leave for our mat practice until 10:30 that morning which allowed me to have the best sleep of the entire season (we normally have practice at 5:30 a.m. every day). We got a workout in the night before in the arena with all the other teams. I woke up on weight, well rested and ready to go. My team jumped in the vans and headed to the arena for our final practice before my last college national tournament. Little did I know that it was going to be my last mat practice of my college career. Even if I had known that I don’t think I would have practiced any differently. My team played a very intense and competitive game of capture the flag (or in our case, wrestling shoe). After my team lost miserably, we drilled for a little while to get loose and prepare for the event. I felt great. I was hitting all my shots how I wanted to. My confidence for the tournament was soaring. After practice we had a meeting, we learned that only specific fans could come watch us wrestle. If we had people coming to watch us, we needed to let our coach know their names so they could be let in. This is when I actually started to realize the severity of the situation. I had briefly scrolled through some COVID-19 coverage on Twitter, but I had no idea what was about to happen.
We all packed up and headed back to the hotel. My roommate, Marissa Gregoire (who is also a senior) and I took turns calling our parents to let them know what was going on. Before I could even jump in the shower, we got a GroupMe message from our head coach, “Team Meeting. My room. Now.” Marissa and I looked at each other in confusion. What could it be? We just had a team meeting. We made our way to our coaches’ room. Our coaches looked distraught. They made the announcement that our National Tournament was cancelled. No one said anything, we were all in complete disbelief. Could the NAIA really do this?
It didn’t hit me. In my mind I was still wrestling tomorrow. I legitimately could not process the news. I sent my parents a text letting them know that they did not need to drive up to North Dakota today and then I jumped in the shower. I stood there just staring at the water droplets running down the walls unable to fully comprehend what this news meant for me. When I finally shut the water off my phone had more GroupMe messages than I had ever seen. My coach was trying to change our flights, seniors were crying, our foreign exchange student from Spain got news of how bad COVID-19 was back home, and our University announced classes were going online for two weeks after spring break. It was a whirlwind.
As the dust settled, I realized that this moment was disappointing, but it wasn’t devastating. My entire wrestling career had prepared me for this. I realized that I have been rolling with the punches since I started wrestling over a decade ago. In high school, I had an amazing head coach and was so excited to start my senior season. Weeks before the season started, we learned that he had a great job opportunity in another state, and he would be leaving.
Less than a year later, before I started my college wrestling career, I got word that my soon-to-be head coach wasn’t going to be there anymore. Not again!
Last year, days before I left for the Pan-American games, I found out that I would be losing yet another head coach. Wait? Another new coach to start another senior year.
As crazy as this may sound, it seems as though my wrestling career had prepared me for this moment. Was it disappointing? Yes. Was it devastating? No. I still got to wrestle in every tournament this season except NAIA Nationals, which is better than the year before where a knee surgery kept me from wrestling almost all season. These are blessings I am choosing to focus on. I still get to wrestle. I was able to qualify for Olympic trials. I will be back on the mat as a wrestler and now a coach before I know it. I am sad, but I am choosing to take this experience and grow from it. I have a lot of great things that happened in my college wrestling career. Yes, I would have liked it to end differently, but I can’t control that. So, I am choosing to look at the good things that happened this season. In the end, that helps to put a smile on my face even in this situation. I have always been told that if you get taken down 7 times learn how to stand up 8 times. This is the mindset I have been sticking to… even though I wrestle freestyle and haven’t done a stand up in 4 years.
You can read more of Rachel’s writings on her website at rachelthedachel.com.