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02/22/2017 11:00 PMIt’s taken years of persistence with a few ups and downs, but Nhu Le pinned down the plan for success in her sendoff season as a member of the Morgan wrestling squad.
Nhu initially hit the mat as a sophomore at Morgan, but left the team due to personal reasons early in the season. After returning to the Huskies for her junior year, Nhu didn’t miss a single practice in her senior season, and that dedication is evident by looking at her record. Nhu finished the year with an excellent mark of 17-6 while moving down from the 126-pound weight class to 106.
“I haven’t skipped anything this year and have gone to every practice. After our first meet this year versus Haddam-Killingworth, I was told by my coaches if I dropped to 106, I could be really good. That motivated me because I wanted to be good at the sport I’m doing, obviously,” says Nhu. “I ...practice one move—the fireman—because I know I’m good at it and can do really well in a match if I hit it.”
Morgan’s Head Coach Erik Leiss is not only impressed with what Nhu has accomplished on the mat, but also the intangibles and integrity that she displays away from it. Coach Leiss feels that Nhu provides a template of success for her fellow wrestlers.
“Being a female in a male-dominated sport, I think she has accomplished a lot. Nhu Le has become a leader on the team. She has not missed a practice or meet all season and made it her goal to get all the way down from the 126-pound class to the 106 weight class,” says Leiss. “She has been demonstrating leadership qualities all season and I’ve been able to utilize her as an example to the rest of the boys on the team as to what it takes to be a wrestler.”
Nhu feels that competitive wrestling is essentially a lifestyle unto itself and one that requires a great deal of discipline. She appreciates how her tenure with the Huskies has been so positive with her teammates and coaches backing her every step of the way.
“It’s not about what you do in practice or on the mats. It’s about what you do away from it with maintaining weight in exercising and having the right diet,” she says. “But the team has been like a family. I was nervous at first, but once I started to learn the sport with the coaches, I started to figure out what to do and be aggressive, but use common sense.”
As a senior leader, Nhu took on the task of impacting the Huskies’ up-and-coming grapplers by making sure they have the right tools to tussle.
“Being a leader can make you nervous because you don’t want to teach the wrong things to the younger wrestlers,” Nhu says. “You have to really work with them and teach the way you want them to be taught.”
As she nears the end of her time at the high school, Nhu wishes she could relive the last four years, and one of the biggest reasons is because her experience with the Morgan wrestling team has been such a meaningful one to her.
“I wish I could go back to the beginning and enjoy it more because time goes by so fast,” says Nhu, who thanks all of her coaches and teammates. “They’ve all been really supportive of me. Even when I don’t do a good job, they work with me and help me through the steps. They always give me another chance.”