By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
Wrestling is special. It’s ancient, it’s biblical, it’s unlike any other sport in the world, but it can help you be better in every other sport.
I’m the sister of a Division I college wrestler and the 2019 NCHSAA 1A HWT State Champion and Most Outstanding Wrestler Noland Brown. Watching Noland wrestle was one of the most difficult things I’ve had to do as his big sister. When he stepped on the mat, it was just him. I couldn’t help him, my parents couldn’t help him, he had to help himself. As a big sister, that’s hard, and family members of wrestlers know what I’m talking about. Still, it’s also one of the best things I’ve ever had the privilege of being in his corner for.
Pippa Welch, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Cherokee High School women’s wrestling team, claims third place in the 2026 NCHSAA State Championship at 152 lbs. on the evening of Friday, Feb. 20 in Greensboro Coliseum. (BROOKLYN BROWN/One Feather photo)
I respect anyone who steps on a wrestling mat, win or lose. It’s just you out there, and it’s a tough sport – the body contortions, the stamina, the grit, how fast things can change. And that’s also what makes it brilliant. The statistics fall away. It’s about who wants it more. And if you do lose, can you get back up?
Pippa Welch got back up.
Wrestling is a model for life, and in life, she’s a winner, because she got back up.
Pippa wrestled hard in her first-round bout, winning 12-2 in points. She lost her semifinals match later that day, and most people would give up after that.
But Pippa came back the next day ready to fight. She won her consolation match by pin, advancing to the third-place match.
Just a few hours later, Pippa would dominate her final match. She did not let up. She did not relent. Until the very end, she gave it everything she had, and she emerged victorious. Iyusdiqwo means anytime, anywhere, whomever. Iyusdiqwo, even if you lose, even if it hurts, fight, fight, fight.
That’s wrestling, and that’s a winner.
