ORANGE – There aren’t many sports at Orange Lutheran that senior Megan Browning hasn’t tried.
She played goalie for the boys hockey team as a freshman and sophomore. Last year, she participated in water polo, swimming, cross country and track.
After pleading with wrestling coach Chris Elder, Browning finally found her way inside the Orange Lutheran wrestling room this season.
“She had actually approached us several times,” Elder said. “But my rule is you have to bring someone else in with you so she can have a (wrestling) partner.”
Her teammate has since quit, but you can’t get rid of Browning that easily.
“I kept asking and asking … I got annoying about it,” Browning said.
In a short period of time, Browning has progressed quickly.
“This has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she said. “It has definitely pushed me way beyond where I thought I could go, but it is awesome when you impress yourself.”
She will hit the wrestling mats Saturday for the CIF-SS girls wrestling championships at Roosevelt High of Eastvale. Her sights are on qualifying for the CIF state tournament.
The top eight wrestlers today at each weight class will advance. She is one of 62 county wrestlers competing.
“I definitely know that I can go to state,” she said. “It is all a mind-game though. You have to confident about it. (After the CIF-SS Southern Regional Qualifier) this past weekend, I’m definitely on fire. The drive is there, I just have to get in the right mindset.
“In one my matches (last weekend), I was on bottom and I could have easily lost if I had given up, but I kept fighting and fighting and I actually got up from where I was … I completely messed up in the beginning, but no matter how much pain you’re in, and even if they’re getting ready to pin you, there’s always a way you can get out.
“It is all a mindset, if you want it bad enough.”
Browning finished fourth at the Southern Regional. She won three matches by fall.
Browning has tapped into her vast athletic background, which includes gymnastics, as she becomes more familiar on the mats.
“She thrives in the wrestling room and she learns quick,” Elder said, “Obviously, she’s intelligent, so she comes in with a good head on her shoulders and knows what she’s doing from that aspect.”
Browning is also on top of things in the classroom. She sports a 4.4 GPA and is the senior class president. She plans to go to medical school.
Her work ethic in the classroom has carried over to wrestling.
“She has a game plan. She doesn’t go in there blank,” Elder said. “She has a strategy and tries to hit her goal, and if that doesn’t work out, she has a secondary plan.
“The people she’s competing with are roughly at the same level, but I think she has one-up on them because of how intelligent and aggressive she is.”
Browning is the first girl to wrestle for Orange Lutheran. With at least three more showing interest for next season, she might be considered a trailblazer on the campus.
“That feels awesome,” she said.
Contact the writer: dcalhoun@ocregister.com
