NEWBURY PARK — The room full of wrestlers grew quiet after ounces of sweat had been poured onto the black and white mats at the training center for Project 8 Wrestling.
The club’s founder, Tyler Ruiz, who is also the head coach of Newbury Park High’s boys and girls wrestling teams, spoke to the group first and then asked one of the team’s leaders to wrap things up.
That wrestler, who gave an impassioned speech about effort and dedication, was the 5-foot-4, 130-pound Madi Black, who was a CIF State girls wrestling champion as a senior this past school year.
Black let her words be heard among a huddle of 45 boys and girls.
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Black, who recently graduated from Newbury Park High, will soon begin wrestling at the college level at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. But first, she will compete in the Fargo Nationals for a final time, representing both Newbury Park High and Project 8 Wrestling while coached by her father Marcus.
“These weeks are a payout for all the work we’ve put in,” Black said. “We just got to keep our bodies healthy and keep our teammates positive and this tournament will only make us better.”
The Fargo Nationals, which are held in North Dakota, are considered the world’s largest wrestling tournament. Roughly 9,500 wrestlers — male and female — from all 50 states in the U.S. compete in freestyle and Greco-Roman.
The tournament takes place July 10 through July 18.
Each wrestler has to qualify for the Fargo Nationals by going through various tournaments in their state. They drain energy, make weight cuts and win matches in order to reach the sport’s highest amateur tournament outside of the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Black won’t be going to the tournament alone. Joining her from the Project 8 club will be Rio Mesa’s Anika Bittner (135-pound division), Camarillo’s Teagan Moise (190-pound division), Newbury Park’s Juliette Martin (125-pound division) and Pacifica’s Samya Bazile (170-pound).
“It’s amazing getting to work with these women,” Bazile said. “They push me every day to be better and work harder.”
Like Black, Bazile, Bittner, Moise and Martin each carry an impressive list of accomplishments.
In February, Bazile placed fifth in the state meet at 155 pounds after winning the CIF-SS Masters Eastern Division.
Moise has over 100 high school wins, Martin won CIF-SS Masters and qualified for state, and Bittner placed third at Masters.
The five wrestlers from Project 8 are now focused on training and want to use Fargo Nationals to gain both national recognition and to see where their skills stack up against wrestlers from the rest of the country.
“I ask so many questions,” said Martin, who has found a mentor in Black. “The coaches answer them and the community here is just so nice. Madi is rough, but I know she’s pushing me to my limits to make me better.”
Bittner became a wrestler because of her older sister Brooklyn, who finished fifth in the state this year at 170 pounds.
Moise said she was “dragged along” to wrestling workouts by a friend of one of her older brothers. She admitted there was some peer pressure at first. But once she started competing and training, wrestling became part of her identity.
“Wrestling has made me see myself in a different light,” Moise said. “It’s showing how much I can push myself and handle situations.”
For Bazile, the decision to begin wrestling came with encouragement from a coach, Joe Rodriguez, who was also an English teacher during her freshman year.
“You tend to build a community no matter where you go,” Bazile said.
In the community that all five girls found, they will each attempt to takedown and pin the best amateurs in the country.