After a second-place finish a year ago at the Class 4A State Championships, and a three-time regional champion at the 235-pound weight class, McPherson’s Ciara Rawson is poised to make another deep run at a state Championship this season.
The senior has been wrestling for five years now and has a mindset that has set her apart from her competition all throughout high school.
“(Ciara) is athletic and a force,” coach Jerry Bowen said. “I work out with her regularly, because she demands the challenge to get better. She embraces the grind of this sport, and it shows up with all the success she has achieved. She is already a three time state placer, and she is on her way to becoming one of the most decorated wrestlers we have had, and that’s significant with the history of girls wrestling her in McPherson. She will be with the best that has done it. And as a senior she is more focused than ever to achieve those goals she has
set for herself.”
As good as Rawson has been, it hasn’t always been easy for her, though.
“Wrestling is just as much a mental sport as it is a physical sport,” Rawson said. “I have always struggled with not believing in myself. As I’m still working on overcoming it a few ways I have worked on it is, wrestling hard at practice to become better so I didn’t have a doubt if I was good enough or not, always walking on the mat believing in myself, and telling myself I will win, and having a strong support team that believes in me and cheers me on the good and bad days.”
