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Phoenix Waters places 7th at USA Wrestling Girls Folkstyle National Championships

Manchester High School freshman and her coaches after she placed 7th at 2018 USA Wrestling Girls Folkstyle National Championships. Pictured left to right below is Cliff Cushard, Phoenix Waters and Dominic Adams. Photo courtesy of Dominic Adams.

Phoenix Waters, a Manchester High School freshman, recently returned from Oklahoma City where she competed with Team Michigan in the 2018 USA Wrestling Girls Folkstyle National Championships and earned 7th place in the cadet division and finished all-American.

Phoenix stated, “It hard to put into words how thankful I am for the opportunity wrestle at this tournament. It was one of the hardest competitions I have ever been to. I still can’t believe I even placed.”

Phoenix was wrestling in honor of Cameron LaDouceur, who passed away in 2014. She stated, “After I lost my very first match I sent my mom a text and said that I felt like I let Cameron down. I wanted to wrestle in his honor and I had just lost. I felt like a real failure; like the tournament was too big for me. She sent me a text back that said ‘keep going, he wouldn’t want you to lose heart.’ So I thought, ‘that true.’” Phoenix continued, “My Manchester wrestling family always tell each other to keep your head up and keep pushing–so I got out there and kept winning and when I was fighting for a spot on the podium and pinned the girl. I cried because I knew we had done it. I was going to place.”

The trip to Oklahoma was expensive and Phoenix worked hard to raise money; she collected returnables and received donations to make the trip possible. She stated, “I had some major donors from the community. Mr. Gary Anderson and his company Rare Tool and the LaDouceur family. I want to thank everyone who donated. People who let me take their returnables and people who even gave me $5. They were very instrumental in getting me here.”

Phoenix Team Michigan coaches are Dominic Adams and Cliff Cushard. Cushard is Michigan USA Wrestling women director and Adrian College women wrestling head coach. He stated, “Phoenix has been a hard worker the few years I have known her. It doesn’t surprise me that she was able to dig deep and pull this out. I am proud of her for finishing all-American in her first trip to a big national tournament and I can’t wait to see what she does in the future because I see good things on the horizon.” Adams is Michigan USA Wrestling girls national team coach. He stated, “Phoenix is a tenacious wrestler who is a joy to coach. She competed fearlessly and showed great sportsmanship throughout the tournament. I am grateful for the opportunity to coach Phoenix. I cannot wait to see her continue to improve her placement at this tournament over the course of the next three years.”

Phoenix also credits her Manchester High School wrestling coach, Steve Vlcek and her teamates. She explained, “Before this, I didn’t know how much support I had from the community. My teammates and coaches have always been behind me but I didn’t realize how much love I had outside the wrestling room. I got a lot of confidence this year wrestling for the high school. At the beginning of the year I heard Coach Vlcek tell my parents that after I spend a year with the varsity boys I should be able to take on any girls tournament and I did. One of my teammates, Zoe Nowicki, won her division and is now a National Champion. That gave me a solid goal to work towards the next few years. I’m excited for the next four years that I have to come back and get another shot at the competition in Oklahoma. Coach Dominic and Coach Cliff have been very supportive though all my ups and downs. I wouldn’t have been able to even step foot on the mat without the support of all of my teammates here and on Team Michigan and without my Coaches. They are all like family.”

Phoenix wants to pass on her love of wrestling and skills. She stated, “I can’t wait to be there to mentor the little girls coming into the sport.”

by Sara Swanson

Sara Swanson is an editor, writer and a founder of the Manchester Mirror.