Rosewood senior Sophia Marshall, front, warms up with her sister, AJ, before a dual-team match this season. Sophia signed an NLI to wrestle next season at the University of Mount Olive. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
GOLDSBORO — A dream is now reality.
Sophia Marshall experienced that euphoria as her pen scratched across the paper Tuesday afternoon.
The Rosewood senior signed a national letter-of-intent to wrestle at the University of Mount Olive.
“I really like the girls on the team [and] I like the division I’m going to be able to wrestle in,” Marshall said. “They’re a high-class team. I love the aura of the town and it’s close to home, so I’m glad to be staying.
“I’m really excited with the new weight classes [adopted by the NCAA], and how disoriented everyone is and confused right now. With me coming in at heavyweight, I think I’m going to do really well … think I’m going to thrive in college, honestly.”
Marshall started her prep career at Southern Wayne.
Lack of “live” mat time was rare during her freshman and sophomore seasons. She decided to transfer to the annual 1A powerhouse that ranks among the state’s elite in boys’ wrestling.
Banners on the gym wall document that success.
Still in its infant stages, the girls’ program is slowly gaining that same status. Marshall couldn’t resist the move.
But, she had doubts.
“I didn’t know what to expect … had heard stories about hazing [new kids], but none of that happened,” Marshall said. “When I walked in the first day, they just completely adopted me to their team. My coaches, they’ve provided me with other girls who are like a family and there is so much love in that wrestling room.
“I’m not ready to leave them quite yet.”
Marshall finished third at heavyweight during both the east regional and the NCHSAA championship meet a year ago. She’s off to a 6-0 start this season after participating in a tournament this past weekend.
The confidence brims from a variety of factors.
“My coaches at Rosewood have given me a lot of one-on-one [instruction] and grown those little details that I’ve been able to get better at doing [on the mat],” she said. “I think my coaches at Rosewood have prepared me for the intensity of a college wrestling room. They’re always focused on making sure I’m pushed.
“We practice in the morning, have ice baths, make sure you recover … focus on every aspect of being an athlete. They’ve grown my mentality a lot more.”
Coaches from Randolph-Macon, St. Andrews, Bluefield State (West Virginia), Huntington (WV) and numerous NAIA schools have viewed film on Marshall.
UMO head coach Dan Willis refused to let her slip away.
Marshall watched the Trojans wrestle, but also knows some of the current team members. She’s either competed against them or seen them in tournaments she’s attended.
The Trojans sent a program-record seven grapplers to the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Coalition (NCWWC) Region II championship meet. Two earned All-American status and the team ended up ninth overall at the NCWWC national championships.
UMO also received All-American recognition academically by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA),
“I have so much respect for all of the girls on the team because they are tough wrestlers because I think Coach Dan is picking out the grittiest girls he can find,” said Marshall, who intends to pursue a degree in psychology with interest in neuroscience.
“Definitely the biggest challenge is going to be the workouts because they will be different, but also taking the initiative – leadership of it. All of these girls are basically like me and it’s a matter of just establishing my place on the team. I’m excited … ready for it.”
You may reach sports writer Rudy Coggins at prepswriter2@gmail.com or call/text 919-709-9257.
