Valley grappler pins gold

BIG LAKE — Rachael Shannon wants to show people she belongs on the mat.

She wrestled with the boys at Houston and Colony, and she found her place on the Lindenwood University women’s wrestling team.

Now, she’s winning matches she never thought she’d win in places she never thought she’d go.

“I wanted to prove something,” Shannon, a 2010 graduate of Colony High School, said of her career recently.

Shannon, who wrestled for three years at Houston High and at Colony High as a senior, won her weight class during the Junior Pan American Championships women’s freestyle wrestling tournament in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on July 2.

“I was kind of in shock,” Shannon said. “Just the fact I was on Team USA.”

The Lindenwood incoming sophomore qualified for the team thanks to her success in the Body Bar Women’s Junior Nationals in Florida in May. She took second in her weight class, which landed her on the Team USA squad bound for Brazil.

“I really wanted to take first, but it was pretty neat I took second place,” Shannon said.

The Body Bar women’s championships qualified for the Junior World Championships, something the 18-year-old hopes to accomplish next year.

“I only have one more chance to make the junior world team,” Shannon said.

Shannon earned her Junior Pan American gold in Brazil by defeating Natalia Rodriguez of Puerto Rico by technical fall in two periods in the championship final. Shannon also shutout her opponents during the preliminary rounds. She beat Marrissa Sorrell of Canada and Kella Dias of Brazil.

Shannon said adjusting to a different style in international wrestling was difficult, but she prevailed.

“It was very different,” Shannon said.

Shannon wrestled beyond her own expectations.

She said she wanted to win, but wasn’t sure if she’d have a chance.

“I wanted to be one of the top (wrestlers) and represent us well,” Shannon said.

Shannon enjoyed a great first season of college wrestling at Lindenwood. She was a starter for the Lady Lions, calling the 63-kilogram (138.6-pound) weight class home.

Shannon had a few wrestling options out of high school and she looked into a few schools.

“There aren’t many women’s college teams out there,” Shannon said. “More are adding programs.”

Shannon’s path to Lindenwood, a school in St. Charles, Mo., began with a chance meeting between her father and a Lindenwood coach.

While she was still in high school, Shannon’s younger brother was on a wrestling trip in Virginia. At the tournament, Shannon’s father met a Lindenwood coach and mentioned he has a daughter interested in wrestling in college.

“The coaches ended up looking me up online and they called me,” Shannon said. “They really wanted me.”

Shannon made a recruiting trip to St. Charles, Mo., and she liked what she saw.

“I really liked the school when I visited,” Shannon said.

She was satisfied enough with Lindenwood to cancel at least two other college visits.

Shannon has wrestled for six years. She was a member of the Arctic Warriors wrestling club in the Valley. Shannon said she doesn’t see herself wrestling after college, but would like to take a national title before she’s done.