Welcome to a new weekly feature produced by students in Mr. Green's journalism class. Here we will be highlighting both current Guardian Knights and alumni to learn about what they are doing outside of the classroom and in the professional world.
Bela Castro is a sophomore who competitively wrestles for Owyhee High School. Ever since she was six years old, she has been wrestling as it was the only sport that resonated with her. Bela loves the competitiveness, adrenaline rush, and satisfaction that comes with winning.
Wrestling has taught her many life lessons. Bela explained, “It teaches you a lot of control and lets you know what your abilities are. I’ve found out that when you get into a match, there are people screaming and your coaches yelling at you, but you kind of just zone in. I’ve learned that I like that feeling–pure focus.” Despite it being a physically demanding and time-consuming sport, she has found a balance between school and her wrestling matches.
This balance is even apparent to her teachers. Health and Wellness instructor, Mr. Marion, described Bela as “...very passionate about whatever she's doing, whether it's here in class or when she's wrestling,” and added, “I’ve watched her before. As soon as she walked on the mat, I thought ‘Oh, she knows what she's doing’ and it's the same thing in the classroom whenever she speaks–she's very intelligent.”
Bela's message to everyone is to help promote women’s wrestling because it's mainly a male-dominated sport. She encourages any interested young women to try wrestling and give it their all.