Senior Seraphina Blackmon works to pin her opponent on girls wrestling’s senior night. Blackmon started wrestling to spite her middle school principal. “At first I was doing it to spite him, but I enjoyed it afterwards. After [freshman year], I got better and I enjoyed being around everyone,” Blackmon said.
Leaving it all on the mat: Seraphina Blackmon
Senior Seraphina Blackmon has been wrestling since her freshman year. Although most athletes begin playing a sport because they’re told to try it out, Blackmon was told the exact opposite.
“I started [wrestling] my freshman year because my eighth grade principal told me that I wasn’t able to because I was too girlie. He said that I should probably do a more girlie thing,” Blackmon said.
After joining to spite her previous principal, Blackmon began to enjoy the sport and the community built around it.
“I enjoy competing and building a family. Everyone gets along with each other and we travel together. It’s really fun being with everyone,” Blackmon said.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Blackmon remembers how wrestling at Lafayette was affected. With wrestling being a high contact sport, it was hard to maintain the recommended six feet.
“We were separated from each other and that kind of ruined the family aspect of it all. We couldn’t wrestle different people,” Blackmon said. “We had to keep the same partners. None of us were allowed to meet new people that were on the team.”
In addition to not wrestling with different people, Blackmon said that they traveled farther in order to compete against other teams and improve their skill level.
Even with the challenges of the pandemic, Blackmon continued to wrestle throughout her high school career and end her senior year at State championships.
After being disqualified, Blackmon was disappointed with the outcome. However, after watching freshman Hannah Henderson compete and gain a third place finish, Blackmon was overjoyed to have been a witness to the event.
“It was very exciting. I didn’t tell her this, but I was crying. I was so happy for her. That was a really big deal for us,” Blackmon said.
Although she does not plan on continuing her wrestling career into college, Blackmon is grateful for the memories and relationships she built with wrestling.
“It’s made me tougher and it’s helped me through a lot of emotional things. When I’m having issues, I always turn to wrestling,” Blackmon said.