Kayenta proud of national wrestler champ Jennifer Alcott

WINDOW ROCK

In March, Ottawa University Arizona made a second-year appearance at the National Collegiate Wrestling Association held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, this season.

Four of Ottawa’s female wrestlers won individual titles in their weight class. Among them was college freshman Jennifer Alcott from Kayenta.

Alcott was the first wrestler competing for her college in the 101-weight class finals. She won her match in under a minute. With a quick pin, she earned All-American status.

Winning bracket

Alcott said winning the bracket felt good – a little unexpected considering this is her first year in collegiate sports, but an outstanding achievement regardless.

Her contribution gave Ottawa a historic season as the college now has 15 female All-American wrestlers.

Alcott has been wrestling since middle school but has been around it most of her life. Almost everyone in her family wrestles with her cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandfathers. But she is the first of the family to go to college on a wrestling scholarship.

“I like the challenge that comes with wrestling,” Alcott said. “It’s more mental. I like the mental challenges that comes with it.”

Female wrestling is a recent addition to school sports. A generation ago, women wrestlers could only compete on the outside circuits, like Alcott’s aunt Chermayne Etsitty.

Etsitty, though, is happy that Alcott is getting the chance to play a sport she loves and getting a scholarship.

“We’re very proud of Jennifer and what she’s accomplished throughout wrestling,” Etsitty said. “She worked very hard for state throughout high school and in college. She really deserved what she (is) as a national champ. She’s going to do more. She always shoots to be the best at what she does.”

Etsitty didn’t want Alcott to think she had to do wrestling because the family does it and initially encouraged her to try other sports. But after Alcott got on the mat, she knew she wanted to do that.

Etsitty describes Alcott as very competitive, always willing to try something new, and always challenging herself. They would travel far to take her to practice, often returning home late. Etsitty always reminded Alcott that she had to do her homework before wrestling.

Alcott is also adventurous, enjoys new things, meets new people, and is fun to be with.

The family has always supported Alcott, from her first high school matches to her getting a scholarship. They couldn’t watch the NCWA tournament, but Alcott face-timed them right after the match and excitedly told them the news.

For Alcott, winning the championship held a special meaning for her as she comes from a family of wrestlers and just wanted to make them proud.

Welcome-home parade

Her former coach from Monument Valley High, Clyde McBride, thought it deserved a parade when she returned home for a brief visit.

A small lane was cleared, and a police escort guided Alcott’s family into Kayenta, where a crowd cheered her return. Afterward, Alcott signed autographs for fans, mostly young girls interested in wrestling.

“I was really happy to be a role model for the young wrestlers,” Alcott said. “If you were to tell me when I was their age that there would be a parade for me and an autograph session, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

McBride has known Alcott since the beginning of her athletic career, watching her grow from middle school before coaching her in high school. He wasn’t surprised that she brought home the gold.

“She has such a work ethic that I knew she was going to succeed at the next level,” he said.

He remembers Alcott as someone who always gave a hundred percent and never gave up. She took in everything she was taught and performed it perfectly. That adaptability and her wanting to learn and improve helped her win tournaments and get selected to play at college.

He also taught her in school, where she was a good student. She was just as dedicated to her studies as to sports, getting A’s and B’s and never causing trouble for the teachers, another sign to McBride that she’d go far in life.

‘Keep going’

McBride was in Phoenix when the Ottawa team returned from the championships. He surprised her at the airport, where tears were shed. McBride could only say he just felt very proud of her.

McBride is already planning to put up a banner of Alcott in their wrestling room. In all his years of coaching, Alcott is the first of his former female athletes to become a national champion. He knows this accomplishment will touch other young athletes in the community and may inspire a generation of new wrestlers.

“The Navajo Nation was built upon warriors, and I believe she made her ascendants very proud of her,” McBride said. “Going to the next level and achieving. She’s going to work toward her dream, and I’m just super proud. She’s going to come out very successful in life.”

Despite her prowess, Alcott believes her greatest strength in wrestling is the people in her corner. Her friends, coaches, and family provided her with support, structure, and motivation – things she needed to win the championship.

She also thanks a former coach who, to this day, keeps in contact with encouraging messages. Messages that sometimes she would read while at tournaments.

She also encourages other young athletes not to give up on whatever their endeavors are and to keep going.

Etsitty said she and the rest of the family are very proud of Alcott. They still remember a little girl who would trip over her feet on occasion but now will be remembered as a champion.

Etsitty rode with Alcott during the parade and still remembers her reaction.

“She (Alcott) was all like, ‘Wow man, this is a huge thing,’” Etsitty said. “And I said, ‘It’s you, you did it, it’s something you did for this town.’ I guess no one has ever seen a national champ come back to Kayenta.”

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