By Tanya Garcia | Lansing News Wire
Lansing New Wire had a chance to catch up with Vivienne Conflitti, Forest Hills Eastern High’s freshman wrestler in the 110pound division. Here is what she had to say about her wrestling experience in Meet the Lady Hawks Q&A:
Q: What inspired you to start wrestling?
A: My Dad mostly inspired me to do wrestling because he wanted to teach me self defense but I definitely didn’t want to be the only girl on an all boys team by myself so I encouraged my best friend Lily to do it with me in middle school and later on after a little nudging I got my older sister Gianna to do wrestling with me as well.
Q: Who has been your biggest influence in wrestling?
A: My biggest influences have to be my parents and my sister. My sister has always come to cheer me on in my competitions and even this year when I wasn’t going to have a practice partner she joined the team. My parents have also supported me like no other.
Q: What do you love most about wrestling?
A: I think the thing I enjoy most about wrestling is just being part of another team. We are all there for each other no matter what. As a wrestling team we are all just there to put in the work and really make ourselves and each other better people and a whole team of people trying to push themselves to their limit just happens to be a really great group of people. I truly think it’s amazing how teammates can push you while they are also working so hard themselves.
Q: What does a typical week of training look like for you?
A: A typical week of training as a high school wrestler is hard work. We practice everyday after school for about two hours or a little more. Alongside this we have one-two competitions a week. Our practices consist of hard workouts to build stamina and strength.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced in wrestling?
A: The biggest challenge is honestly not giving up. It’s really easy to just give up in wrestling when it gets hard (which it does!). Being on the bottom of someone while they are twisting you around is not easy and it’s sometimes easy to just give up and stop trying.
Q: Can you describe your first match? How did you feel?
A: My first match was it seventh grade and I was not at all prepared and I barely knew what I was doing. I was nervous but I was just ready to try my best even while knowing it probably wasn’t going to end in my favor.
Q: What has been your proudest moment in wrestling so far?
A: So far my proudest moment in wrestling is winning those really hard matches that you won by points. Going the full three periods takes so much effort and stamina. One period is so hard but knowing that you persevered through a whole three matches and scored enough points to win is just an overall feeling of joy. However that is one of my proudest moments, I’m also extremely proud of my sister. It is her first year of wrestling and just recently she placed first place in her first ever tournament. I’m so proud of her and lucky to be her practice partner.
Q: How does it feel to be back with the team this season, what are your individual and team expectations?
A: I love being a part of a team, especially because we all respect each others goals. My individual goal is to just never give up and always try my best and work as hard as on can on that particular day. Not all days I have the same energy especially not after really long days at school, so just working my hardest that I can is my goal. My team is very small, especially our girls team with only four girls so I don’t have many expectations for us.
Q: How has being a student-athlete helped you grow as a person?
A: Being a student athlete has truly helped me grow as a person in many tremendous ways. Being on a team teaches you things you will never learn in a classroom. It teaches you leadership, how to work with other people, determination, dedication, and so many more life lesson. Learning these as a young adult is truly inspiring and I feel so lucky to be part of a team.
Q: What does it mean to you to represent your school as a student-athlete?
A: To represent my school as a student athlete makes me feel proud and confident. I know that all my fellow peers are wishing me well for my season.
Q: What lessons have you learned through wrestling that apply to your life outside the sport?
A: Through wrestling I have learned how to work with others. This helps me in my outside life because I have to work with people all the time for many different reasons.
Q: How would you describe the strengths and overall dynamic of your wrestling team?
A: My teams strength is not giving up. As a small team we can not afford any losses just because one of us didn’t care anymore. We have to work our best to try and win every match. As teammates we know we have to go into every match and not just win it for ourselves but for our teammates and coaches and parents that have supported us.
Q: What’s your coach’s name and share one piece of advice from your coach that has stuck with you?
A: My coaches names are coach Gordon and Coach Max. A piece of advice that my coaches have given me is to not get in a head lock because if you know wrestling you know that does not end well. This has stuck with me because I’ve experienced it, many many times and I never want it to happen again!
Q: What’s one thing you admire most about your coach’s leadership style?
A: I admire my coaches style of teaching. They show the new move many times and help us to understand and really master the moves we learn. However sometimes calm they also push us to make us better which I admire because I think it’s a whole part of the learning and it helps us to improve by pushing over selves.
Q: What advice would you give to others who want to start wrestling?
A: I would tell others to just go for it. If anyone is interested ever hesitant to start wrestling, just try it! It’s a really cool sport and it can help you with any other sport you are doing. I also do soccer and cross country and wrestling has helped me in those sports in many ways.
Q: What’s your signature wrestling move, and does it have a cool name?
A: My go to wrestling move for a takedown is probably the firearm. My coaches call it that and I think it’s pretty cool.
Q: Have you ever had a match where something hilarious or unexpected happened? What was it?
A: I had this one match against a really good girl in my bracket in the championships of a tournament and she is like a state champ or something so I was almost confident she was going to beat me. So I go into the match and she takes me down right away and she cuts me (let’s me stand up) just to pick me up and throw me back down to the mat. Know this was hilarious because I was laughing throughout the whole match even though I was loosing by some many points and my coach after was like, “why were you laughing in he middle of a match”. Which made this one of my funniest matches so far.
Q: If your team had a karaoke night, who would steal the show, and what song would they sing?
A: If my team had a karaoke night I feel like Naomi would definitely steal the show but I’m not sure what song she would choose to sing.
Q: If you could wrestle any celebrity, who would it be, and why?
A: I’m honestly not sure…
Q: If wrestling had walkout music like boxing or MMA, what would your theme song be?
A: Not sure 😅
Q: What is your favorite classroom subject?
A: My favorite subject would probably be math (geometry), science (biology), or english (honors english 9).
Q: What is your dream school/university?
A: I’m not quite sure yet but both my parents went to Michigan State University and our family is big fans of Michigan State but that’s all I have in mind right now.
Q: What is your favorite place to go eat?
A: My favorite place to eat is probably P.F Changs bc they have some really good fried rice and dumplings.
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
A: I have already been to Italy and I would definitely go again sometime. However I also want to go to Alaska, Maine, and Colorado because they should like really cool states.
Q: What’s a hobby or activity you enjoy outside of sports?
A: I do many sports and don’t have much time to do other things. But I do enjoy hunting with my dad and being outside.
LARRY ARREGUIN 
Raul Garcia