Wrestling with love

No sound. No voices. Nothing. No crowd chanting her name. No teammates cheering her on. No coach giving her advice.

Her heart’s beating faster and faster.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

She hears the whistle blow. Tweeeeeeet.

Her heart beats one last time, hard. Thump. Then it stops.

Whenever junior Brittany Marshall steps on the wrestling mat, she feels as if she has been running. She doesn’t hear anything. It’s just her, her opponent, and the ref’s whistle.

The young lady whose coach describes her as humble, smart, hardworking and driven has a smile that suggests she’s the sweetest person in the world (and from what many people who know her say, she is). But she has also just won her third title as regional champion, to go along with three straight district titles.

“In all honestly, I totally forgot,” Marshall said with a laugh, recalling her latest victory two weeks ago. “My mom was like, ‘It’s been three!’ and I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve been in high school that long?’ It just makes me feel like I’m getting old, that’s all.”

Marshall has been on the wrestling team since her freshman year, although she admits it wasn’t what she had at mind at the beginning.

“The wrestling girls came to my school in eigth grade and they told everyone to try to do it,” Marshall said.  “I really didn’t want to do it at first, but my coach persuaded me to do it so I tried it and I actually really liked it.”

Her coach, Joe Daniel,  remembers when Marshall first came to him her freshman year and said  she was naïve, but she’s matured.

“She was young, she only had a couple moves,” Daniel said. “She was very predictable. She’s upped her game and added different moves, takedowns, pinning combinations. She’s a bit more agile. She’s ‘mat smart,’ so she’s grown.”

A sport many think of as a man’s world has this junior girl head over heels.

“Love,” Marshall said, when asked what’s the first thing that comes in mind when she hears her sport’s name. “I love it.”

Fitting that her first match for the state tournament will take place on Valentine’s Day.

Marshall doesn’t think that guys are any better than girls when it comes to wrestling. She thinks that if girls push themselves to the max, they can be just as good as guys and it doesn’t matter what your gender is. At the end of the day what matters is who comes out and who pushes.

And Marshall knows this from experience.

“I’ve beaten a couple of them,” Marshall said, with a smile on her face. “It feels pretty good because you get some of that stereotype, ‘Oh, girls can’t wrestle guys. You know, it’s really not fair for the girl cause the guys are strong.’ When you beat a guy, it’s like, “Really? It’s not fair? ‘Cause I just beat you, so is it not fair now?’ It’s pretty funny though.”

Whenever Marshall walks into a gym she has this aura that instantly puts opponents on their guard, her coach said. Once you watch her wrestle and see the way she learns from her mistakes, you can’t help but respect her, Daniel added.

Marshall said her sport has taught her lessons useful on the mat, and off of it as well.

“[In other sports], you can mess up and you can blame your teammates but, in wrestling, you can’t,” Marshall said. “If you mess up it’s on you. You have to own up to it. In life, instead of blaming everyone for your problems, you learn to accept that it’s your fault.”

Marshall said that although she feels joy winning district and region nothing compares to her goal to win state, which she has not done yet. She said the only thing keeping her from succeeding is herself; that the only reason she hasn’t been able to win is because she lacks faith in herself. 

“She can sometimes get into her own head and start to overthink things,” Daniel said.

In order to win state, Marshall said she’s going to have to start believing in herself. She added that tournaments like district and region are just little trainings to get there, and training is the only way she can accomplish her goal.

“Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect,” Marshall said. “Even if you think you’re the best at what you do, there’s someone out there who’s better than you. You have to fight. You have to push yourself like your life depends on it.”

Marshall only has two concerns at the moment.

“I have a fear of getting hurt before state,” Marshall said. “Sometimes I have a fear of face planting because I fear that I won’t get up quick enough.”

When her opponent has her in a hold, her fears seem to come back. She laughs about it.

“I’m thinking if I don’t get out she’s going to take me back down,” Marshall said. “And then I’m really going to face plant.”

Daniel said that Marshall is a “lead by example” person. She motivates other girls by doing what she does best. Her teammates see what she’s doing and they are motivated by it. He knows that whatever she sets her mind to she’ll be able to accomplish.

“I think the sky’s the limit for her,” Daniel said. “If she has that confidence in herself and the want [to go on to state], she can go ahead. If she really really wants to, she can go on and wrestle in college. Her overall demeanor as a Lewisville Farmer is awesome. She represents the school great.”