Waiting for her match, junior Alana Lee is ready to face her opponent. She feels nervousness bubble up in her gut, but she pushes those thoughts away by thinking of her game plan and looking away from the possibility of losing. As she enters the ring, her anxiety fades, and she begins making her moves to victory.

Lee made her second trip to State wrestling in February and placed second, taking her first loss in a 23-1 season.

“I was happy, but I kind of expected it,” Lee said.

Wrestling coach Josh Cadenhead said Lee has earned a few firsts: Lee is the Lady Pioneers’ first district champion, regional champion, and is the first state silver medalist.

“Just looking at all of her hard work she’s put in, and sacrifices she’s made, and when she gets a win, a big victory, it’s very awesome,” Cadenhead said. “It’s special because you look back and know that she put in the work.”

Last year, Lee said she and Cadenhead were just happy for her to compete. This year, however, Lee said she was more confident this season and therefore had a lot more fun.

“(Last season) I was really nervous. I didn’t really have much motivation,” she said, “but this year I felt much better.”

Cadenhead said Lee was clearly more determined to place this season.

“She definitely had a goal of not just going to state and wrestling some matches, but going to state and getting on the medal podium and, you know, leaving her mark,” Cadenhead said.

Wrestling isn’t Lee’s first venture into martial arts. Before she began wrestling, she had a yellow white belt in Jujitsu.

“My dad kind of got me into wrestling because I’d previously done martial arts in middle school, and that rolled over well,” Lee said. “I tried to go back to it a little over the summer, but it’s difficult.”

Lee started wrestling when she was 14-years-old, and the first time she competed, she made it to regionals, which is what set her expectations for the competition during her sophomore year.

“I didn’t expect to make it far,” Lee said. “My only goal was to place at regionals, or win at least one at regionals, and I ended up placing third, so I was really excited that I got to go.”

Although each competition provides her with different results, she’s determined to improve.

“I wasn’t going to let myself settle for less,” Lee said. “I want to improve every year.”