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El Camino Real girls wrestler Alex Waitsman had watched the CIF State wrestling finals many times before on video. She knew that Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield filled up for the finals, but seeing it in person was something else entirely.
“Every seat in that arena was full,” the high school senior said. “I was walking out and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m about to step on the mat and wrestle right now,’ ”
She lost in the final Saturday, but still made El Camino Real history. The senior placed higher than any boys or girls wrestler in the school’s history, finishing as the runner-up in the 116-pound weight class.
Waitsman began wrestling her freshman year of high school after practicing jiu jitsu since she was 8 years old. It was something that she and her mom shared a passion for. Waitsman eventually was spending hours at a time at the gym and her mom’s training partners became her surrogate family.
Her mom died of lung cancer when Waitsman was in eighth grade. That was January 2019, and Waitsman began wrestling at ECR seven months later. She moved in with her grandmother during that time, then moved in with her father. Shortly after that, she lost her grandmother, too.
Wrestling came at a good time.
“It was always a constant for me,” Waitsman said. “It was always an escape despite what was going on, the outside distractions of my life. The minute practice started, it was like, my mind kind of just turned off and it was just about wrestling.”
Wrestling had an effect on Waitsman, and she had an effect on the sport, too. John Terndrup had taken over as head coach a few seasons prior and was dealing with the mental and emotional challenges that come with rebuilding a program as a solo coach.
“And then Alex came around and made it fun again,” Terndrup said. “She changed the environment, the attitude in the room. Everyone was like oh, if we…
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