Aaliyah Grammer didn’t know much about wrestling during her freshman year of high school.
After hearing a classmate talk about the sport, she decided to join the Lafayette (Wildwood) team but it was short-lived.
Her family didn’t like the idea of her wrestling and she quit.
Flash forward two years, she’s one of the best wrestlers not only in Missouri but the entire country.
In April, she went to the NHSCA High School Nationals and was a national runner-up.
The junior won four in a row to reach the 235-pound bracket before falling to Anna Bozanic from California.
Three of Grammer’s four wins were by pins and the other was a close 2-0 victory.
“This tournament is one of the toughest in the country bringing kids from all over the nation,” Lafayette coach Wade Pinkston said. “We are very proud of Aaliyah’s accomplishment in earning All-American status. It is a great honor for her and our program. This is a tournament that we encourage kids in our program to attend annually. We have had girls and boys accomplish all-american status at this event in past years and it is a great accomplishment.”
Last year, she went to the event in Virginia Beach, Virginia and took seventh.
“It was a great experience; I love going to national tournaments because I love wrestling people I’m usually not able to, so for me, it was really great,” she said. “I wanted to go there and get the experience and I wanted to get better. I want to be the wrestler I can be and get those extra matches to help.”
She said she expected to do well after taking seventh place last year at the same event. However, Grammar said in the sport of wrestling you can’t expect to earn something without the work.
She said last year, she was unaware of what she accomplished….
