Antillon, Alina CO: First Opponent Is Self
LINK TO PUBLISHED ARTICLE IN WIN MAGAZINE (press “control” & click on mouse to open in new window): https://pages.pagesuite.com/8/9/89fa1b80-e7eb-4a3f-9af7-033796e40905/page.pdf
By Bill X. Barron – RMN Events Writer
To know Alina Antillon, one must respect her precocious mental acuity as parallel to her dominant athletic talent. In addition to RMN championships and a top 3 finish at Body Bar, Alina recently accepted a scholarship to attend Mullen, a private academically challenging high school. Unusually articulate for an 8th grader, Alina will often read an unassigned English novel just to advance her knowledge. Her collegiate goal is to attend an Ivy League school on a full academic ride. Says Alina: “My academics have always been my top priority.”
In Alina’s perspective, “Wrestling has contributed to my success in the classroom and the school community by teaching me respect, responsibility, work ethic, accountability, self-control, and how to be a leader. All of these traits are things that have helped promote my successes in the classroom and in the school community, because they all help me get all of my work done the best that I possibly can.”
Her mental toughness shows on the mat as well. Her recent high-level finish at the Body Bar Women’s National Championships did not come easily. Alina continued to compete and perform well despite breaking her nose just 30 seconds into her second match. Attributing her mental toughness to “hard training” with Sons of Thunder as well as lessons with Coach Thomas “Wildman” Denny, Alina says this experience “taught me that mental strength really does prevail over anything physical.”
As a female competitor, Alina observes: “There may still be some people that believe girls don’t belong in the sport of wrestling, but it is a lot more common now than it ever has been in the past. I believe that there are several amazing opportunities that are opening up for women’s wrestling as a whole. Between girls wrestling becoming a sanctioned high school sport in Colorado soon and women’s Greco being added into the 2028 Olympics, I believe that women’s wrestling is only going to continue to grow and thrive.”
For herself, she adds: “I approach wrestling boys the same way that I approach wrestling girls. Either way, the main goal doesn’t change. Up until last season, wrestling was almost exactly the same, whether I wrestled a boy or a girl. The only difference now between the two is that boys usually have more upper body strength. For women’s wrestling overall, I think that we have broken through a lot of the challenges that we’ve had previously.”
A multiple champion, Alina always looks forward to RMN Events, because not only are they highly competitive and “very challenging but also super enjoyable. The awards offered makes competing in RMN really rewarding.”
In her own words, “Wrestling has changed my life. It has taught me that life requires you to be strong, not just physically but mentally. It has also taught me that if you really want something, you must work for it, in order to be able to achieve it. Most importantly, wrestling has taught me that you have to do things yourself, rather than have them done for you by friends, coaches, or parents.”
She continues: “Wrestling has molded me into the person I am by continuously challenging me. All of the different challenges, both mentally and physically, have made me into the person that I am today. Wrestling builds character by always making you compete with your opponents and yourself at the same time.”
Alina Antillon
If You Want Something, Work For It Yourself!
In Her Own Words
I became interested in wrestling by going with my little brother to his wrestling practices. One of the nights that I was there, my Pomona coach Dan Cardenas told me to put on a pair of wrestling shoes and practice. After that, I just kept with it.
One experience that has definitely taught me a lesson was me breaking my nose at Body Bar this year. After breaking my nose 30 seconds into my second match, I still had to wrestle 3 more matches. The mental strength that wrestling has built into me was what allowed me to continue to fight and still finish top 3 in a national tournament with such a high level of competition. I attribute this mental strength to the hard training that I go through every day at my home club Sons of Thunder Academy and also to my coach Thomas Wildman Denny. The lesson that this taught me was that mental strength really does prevail over anything physical which may happen.
My parents have supported my wrestling by encouraging me and allowing me to have the opportunity to go to so many different practices, camps, and tournaments. Likewise, all of my coaches have been important to my wrestling experience. Each and every coach I've had has helped me become the wrestler and person that I am today. Together they have all shaped me into what I have become. I am thankful for every single one of my coaches.
My peers and siblings have shaped my wrestling by consistently testing my technique and my mental strength. Finding good practice partners has helped me find what works for me and to know what changes that I need to make to make myself into the best version of myself possible.
Wrestling has contributed to my success in the classroom and the school community by teaching me respect, responsibility, work ethic, accountability, self-control, and how to be a leader. All of these traits are things that have helped promote my successes in the classroom and in the school community because they all help me get all of my work done the best that I possibly can.
The level of competition that RMN Events has to offer makes it very challenging but also super enjoyable. The awards that are offered makes competing in their events really rewarding and even more enjoyable.
My future aspirations in the sport of wrestling are to wrestle in high school and to be a state champion. In life, my future aspirations are to be accepted to an Ivy League college on a full-ride academic scholarship. My academics have always been my top priority. Now that I am going to attend Mullen next school year, they’ve only became more important to me. I know that you can’t go very far in life without an education.
For a young wrestler just beginning, I would tell him or her to just keep with it and not to give up. There are going to be some times that you second guess yourself, but you just have to believe in yourself and how far you've came.
I approach wrestling boys the same way that I approach wrestling girls. Either way, the main goal doesn’t change. Up until last season, wrestling was almost exactly the same whether I wrestled a boy or a girl. The only difference now between the two is that boys usually have more upper body strength. For women’s wrestling overall, I think that we have broken through a lot of the challenges that we’ve had previously.
There may still be some people that believe girls don’t belong in the sport of wrestling, but it is a lot more common now than it ever has been in the past. I believe that there are several amazing opportunities that are opening up for women’s wrestling as a whole. Between girls wrestling becoming a sanctioned high school sport in Colorado soon and women’s Greco being added into the 2028 Olympics, I believe that women’s wrestling is only going to continue to grow and thrive.
Wrestling has changed my life in many ways by not only requiring a large chunk of my time, but also by teaching me several very important life lessons. It has taught me that life requires you to be strong, not just physically but mentally. It has also taught me that if you really want something you have to work for it in order to be able to achieve it. Most importantly, wrestling has taught me that you have to do things yourself rather than have them done for you by friends, coaches, or parents.
After I'm done competing, I don’t plan on coaching, but I do want to give back to the sport that I have been involved in for so long in some way. Wrestling has molded me into the person I am by continuously challenging me. All of the different challenges, both mentally and physically, have made me into the person that I am today. Wrestling builds character by always making you compete with your opponents and yourself at the same time.
March, 2019 Updates to Profile
· Maintaining a 4.0 GPA (high school freshman at Mullen CO)
· Colorado High School girls state champion
· Who’s Bad champion
· 3rd place finish at UWW women’s freestyle nationals
· Women’s folkstyle nationals champion
Currently, I have been training and preparing for women’s folkstyle nationals and Fargo. In my future wrestling journey, I hope to go to state in the last 3 years of my high school career and plan to use wrestling as a tool to open as many opportunities as I can.