By Coleman Armes

Staff Writer

Compared to football and basketball, Coppell girls wrestling has not received as much press coverage and attention.

It is tough work for not much recognition. Senior captain Lorena Ramirez, however, has a story begging to be told.

Four years ago, when Ramirez started wrestling, her father was skeptical of his daughter competing in the sport. He thought it was a boy’s sport and she could get hurt easily. Ramirez enjoyed the sport, though, and decided to stick with it despite her father’s grievances.

Ramirez’s freshman year was successful, as she finished as a district champion in the 110-weight class. In addition, wrestling helped her in the classroom, as it gave her reason to put a newfound emphasis on grades and discipline. It had nothing but a positive impact on her life as a whole.

Sophomore year, however, did not flow as smoothly. Wrestling is a sport requiring a lot of dedication, time and mental focus, and Ramirez had a number of things going on outside of school making it tough for her to focus entirely on wrestling.

At one point she thought about quitting, but decided to stick with it.

“It’s a mental sport,” Ramirez said. “Tough times don’t last but tough people do and I’m so glad I stuck with it.”

This dedication paid off for Ramirez, as she went on to win district once again as a sophomore.

In her junior year Ramirez excelled once again. She won district for a third straight time in the 110-weight class.

As a senior, Ramirez has achieved captain status, something well deserved. By displaying high levels of dedication and mental toughness, Ramirez has earned the respect of many over her four years in the program. As captain, girls look up to her and realize her experience on and off the mat.

“She’s really good at directing us and showing us the right moves,” senior Kihana West said. “She and [senior Kaci Fullinwinder] kind of hold the team together.”

“Lorena has come a long way and she is a wrestler to watch in the new few years. Her talent has exploded into greatness and has no mercy on anyone and that makes her who she is, an astounding wrestler, leader, and teammate.” Fullinwinder says.

In addition to her fellow wrestlers, Ramirez has impressed the Coppell coaching staff during her tenure.

“Deep down inside she has been tough since ninth grade, now she has learned the sport and is still tough,” coach Chip Lowery said.

This being her last year, Ramirez hopes to make a big impact on the wrestling team. She has only one loss this year, which came in the district tournament and finished second in the 110-weight class. She is now aiming for a state championship to wrap up her legacy at Coppell.

This does not seem to be the end of wrestling for Ramirez, though. She has received scholarship offers from Missouri Valley, Oklahoma City, Waldorf College in Iowa and Menlo College in California. She is also thinking about majoring in education and coming back to Coppell to coach wrestling.

Ramirez has had an impressive career thus far at Coppell, and she could be on her way to making school history.

As for her dad, Ramirez says that he is OK with the sport now, plus it doesn’t hurt that it will be paying for her college.