Brittany Patrick: Getting Respect the Hard Way

Most girl wrestlers want boy wrestlers to think of them in one regard. A wrestler. But they know, they are a girl stepping into a mans sport. And most of the girl wrestlers aren't automatically accepted or respected...until they earn it.

Brittany Patrick earned it, the hard way. She was in 8th grade and wrestling in her first freestyle match. She had only been wrestling for four months, so to say she was inexperienced would be an understatement.

But her inexperience wasn't her only disadvantage. She weighed in at 115 pounds. There was no one in her weight class, so she moved up to 120 pounds. “I was thinking, oh no!! (laughs) I was really nervous, and of course I wanted to impress my teammates.”

The boy she was facing was appropriately named Tyler Kill. Brittany says, “I only remember his name because my mom jokes about how he “killed” me.”

Freestyle is the best two out of three rounds, or pin. Though Brittany was lighter than Kill, she immediately took him down at the opening whistle. She let him roll to his belly and then completed three bull dogs for a first round tech.

Brittany's coach was very pleased with her and told her to keep her aggression. Brittany says, “I remember my mom told me that my coach and her kept looking at me, and then at each other kind of in shock that I was actually wrestling, because when I first started out I was very timid on the mat.”

After the first round tech Brittany was extremely confident. At the start of the second round she went to take Kill down, but he dodged out of the way. Brittany stood up from her shot and pushed him out of bounds, scoring her first point of the round. The whistle blew again and this time Kill became the aggressor. He charged forward as if to shove Brittany out of bounds, but she hit a duck under and then circled to the front and hit an alligator roll on the way out of bounds. Three more points for Brittany. It was 4-0 and this was turning into a romp. Brittany says, “Tyler was pretty frustrated at the way the match was going. And stupidly I was getting a little bit cocky so my stance was a little sloppy.”

An animal is most dangerous when their injured, and Kill was angry. Brittany knowing the match was all but over, was standing up more with her head raised, instead of the usual wrestling position. Kill noticed, and lunged at her head for the head and arm. Brittany was ready for this however, and locked around his body, so she could throw him over. It was going to be a defining moment for Brittany. She was going to toss this boy to the mat and win the match.

But that never happened. “I realized I was too weak to lift him up, so I let go and slipped my arm out. He started to hip me over with just my head, but I was trying to step around out front.” But as often is the case with boys and girls wrestling, the strength favors the boy. Brittany says, “Unfortunately, he was stronger than me and flipped me up and over. I landed on the upper side of my shoulder with a very loud crack.”

Brittany's plan of flipping Kill over and winning the match was long gone now. Brittany was injured, lying on the mat. The move Kill hit was legal, so even though he was losing, he was now going to be the winner.

Not so fast. Kill jumped off Brittany with concern on his face. Though the gesture was chivalrous, Brittany would have none of it. She says, “With my adrenaline pumping, I didn't hear the crack, though I did feel the pain. But my dad always told me to suck it up. You're weaker than the boys so you need to get used to being tossed around a hurt a little bit.”

So instead of giving up, she spoke up. Brittany says, “I distinctly remember rolling over and saying, “Uhhhh, what are you doing? We're still wrestling!” Brittany says she taunted Kill until he started wrestling again, and he jumped on her and tried to run a half. “That's when I first really felt the pain,” Brittany says. “I kinda gasped because due to my fall, I had dislocated my shoulder slightly, and he popped it out of place.” The score was now 4-2, and time was running out. Brittany couldn't score any more points, so she had to make sure Kill didn't. Her coach yelled time was running out and she gritted out the final seconds, securing her 4-2 win.

She says, “After the final whistle I rolled onto my back, but when I tried to sit up, the room was spinning. That's when I yelled for my coach.”

The throw was so violent, an adult had already called for an ambulance. Ten minutes after winning her match, she was on a stretcher with an IV in her arm. Brittany says, “I pride myself that I didn't cry. I know it sounds dumb, but I didn't.”

Brittany's grit, determination, and toughness did not go unnoticed by her teammates. “After the match it was kinda cool because my teammates actually stuck up for me and gave Tyler some crap about beating up a girl. All of the sudden I was cool with the guys and they respected me more.”

Brittany realizes Tyler didn't intentionally try to hurt her, but her compassion for Tyler lasted only for a little while. She says, “Yes I felt bad for Tyler. I knew he didn't mean to hurt me. But when he took my gold medal when I was in the hospital, the feeling bad for him went away.”

Though she was tough on the outside, inside the injury took its toll on Brittany. She says, “The first time I got on the mat after I was injured, I was incredibly nervous. I was timid and not nearly as aggressive and successful. Every little throw I flinched.”

But those nerves, with help from her family eventually went away. “My Dad made me do some trust drills and I was back to wrestling confidently.”

Now when things are going tough, Brittany sometimes looks back on that match and realizes she can overcome the obstacle standing before her. “It made me realize I could keep doing what I need to do when I get hurt. I think yeah it hurts now, but I've done it before and I can do it again.”

And while some people would think they were a badass for winning the match, Brittany says that's not what was important. “Honestly, I'm more proud that I stuck it out and finished the match, even though it hurt. Even if i did somehow lose that match I don't think it would have mattered to me.”