After decades of dominating boys wrestling, Crook County High School has its first state girls champion in MaKenna Duran.
Central Oregon Daily News caught up with MaKenna, the young woman making wrestling history.
“It feels great. I love it!” she said.
MaKenna Duran won three matches at the state championships to claim the women’s title, the first in Crook County wrestling history.
“Before all my matches, I usually tell myself things coaches have told me like ‘this is my match, I know what I’m doing, just work what I know how to do,'” she told Central Oregon Daily News on Monday.
“You have to do everything right. If you skip a step or two it will eventually catch up with you,” said Jake Gonzales, Crook County High School Head Wrestling Coach. “She doesn’t take any shortcuts. She does everything that we expect and more. I think that’s why we are seeing her be successful.”
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MaKenna is excited to have her name posted in gold on the walls of the wrestling room.
The walls are covered with names of boys state champion wrestlers dating back to the early 1960s.
She is the first woman.
“It’s feels so good. I am proud of myself,” she said.
Coach Gonzales said MaKenna’s success will make women’s wrestling more popular.
“She’s doing a good job being at the forefront of that. I think it’s just going to grow it more. That’s good for us. If you can grow the sport, it’s always a good thing,” Gonzales added.
MaKenna, a junior, says the girls wrestling team is starting to get the same level of respect that the guys do in Crook County.
