The HERD FIT
Coach David Syvertsen discusses all things CrossFit, health, fitness.
The HERD FIT
S8E232: Francesca Gusfa - National Champ, D-I Wrestler, and Non-Profit Founder!
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Welcome And Guest Return
SPEAKER_00Hey everybody, welcome to the Herd Fit Podcast with Dr. Stan Ree and myself, Coach David Siverson. This podcast is aimed at helping anyone and everyone looking to enhance their healthy lifestyle through fitness, nutrition, and most importantly, mindset. All right, welcome back to the Herd Fit Podcast. I am Coach David Siverston. I have a very special repeat guest with me today, and it's Francesca Gusfa of Ridgewood High School, soon to be of a Columbia University. Yeah, Columbia University. Also, a lot more to her, and we're going to get into this episode. But there's been so much going on in her life over the past year. And I want to kind of highlight that and hear and genuinely hear about it. And I want everyone, all of our listeners to hear about it too. If we're looking to support things or uh just to kind of kind of update people on what you've accomplished and what's next for you, because A, it's inspiring. B, you know, you're pretty quiet at the gym and you're locked in and you do your thing. And you are. You're very uh you're well spoken, you're very smart, and it's a lot, it's really uh advantageous for a lot of us to just listen to you and just kind of see like you know what
The Fargo Finals Ankle Tear
SPEAKER_00what makes you spin, what makes you go. So but before we get there, Francesca, you just went under the knife uh a couple weeks ago.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_00You got an ankle surgery. Let's rewind a little bit. What was the injury to your ankle? What happened there?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I um I went to Nationals, uh Fargo Nationals in July, mid-July, and I went through the tournament and then in my last match, the finals match, I guess my ankle had popped or something like that. And I with all the adrenaline, I didn't even feel it until after. And I went to get an MRI and I tore my ATFL ligament. So I had to get surgery um like a couple maybe a couple weeks ago, and then it should be about like a three-month recovery period. So yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, it's I mean, it doesn't surprise me at all that you you go out, and we're gonna get into this the Fargo Nationals. We'll get there. That's part of what we want to talk about today. But it does not surprise me at all that you're like, yeah, didn't even feel it. And all of a sudden, did you did was there a moment after the championship, once it was done, once the adrenaline had that dump off, did you start to feel some pain? Was it extreme? Was it kind of subtle? What was that like?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so after so after um you win, they usher you to the back, and there's all this stuff that you have to get done for the award ceremony. You had to go like pick out a t-shirt, and there's all this stuff. So as it kind of started to slowly wear off, I felt it, but I thought it was just like an ankle tweak. And it wasn't until after I had, you know, been hopping and skipping around outside, I took off my sock and my ankle had ballooned up. So I was like, oh, this might be something we need to get checked out.
SPEAKER_00And yeah, no, I know I remember you coming in and you praised, you know, you're very responsible. All of you guys are you, Manny, Yaya, your father, all responsible with scaling appropriately. And if something hurts, you know, go in the other direction. Don't try to set world records at the gym every day. You're there to train, not to compete. Um, and yeah, I remember you coming up and asking, like, hey, I'm gonna need a few modifications, which are pretty easy to do for us. But there were unique modifications. It was like, yeah, just kipping on a rig hurts my ankle, and then you just go bang out 10 strict pulse, or kipping on the handstand push-ups. Obviously, the jumping and the running we can easily modify. Um, what were the
Training Mindset While Injured
SPEAKER_00things that you know? We have a lot of people that are banged up at the gym, some have legitimate injuries as well. What does that do to your psyche when when you're when you're in the training, you constantly have to kind of dance around pain or you don't want to make something worse? Um, how did how do you still get advice kind of motivated and and you know have the drive to show up and work out still?
SPEAKER_01I mean, I think that still, even if even though I am injured and I was injured at that time, I think that didn't really change my outlook on working out. Like it kind of pushed me more because I wanted to, you know, get into the gym and work out. And I think that scaling back the workouts, um, I don't really think it had that much of an impact on you know my like mentality. I just still wanted to go and finish the workout as fast as I could and like kind of compete against people around me, obviously keeping in mind that I tore a ligament, so I kind of had to scale it back a little bit.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. All right. Well, I mean, best of luck for that recovery because I know you have some things coming up for for college and wrestling, but we'll get there as well. I'm also happy that it happened in your last match, you know, because yeah, for sure. Happened either before or maybe your first match, that really could have kind of thrown a curveball at that entire weekend slash week for you. Um
Launching A Breast Cancer Nonprofit
SPEAKER_00you're wearing uh a shirt, blast double breast shirt. This is a uh a nonprofit that you started that I'm I'm involved with somewhat. And you ran a well, let's before we get into the event, how is that going so far? Because this is something, again, you're gonna have other young people listen to this. And this is something that I want a lot of young people to not necessarily look into doing themselves, but take in what you've done and you know talk about some of the ups and downs. How is that going so far with this nonprofit that you started?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so um, just to briefly explain what blast double breast cancer is, it's a nonprofit that raises money for breast cancer research through sports, specifically wrestling. And I started it um in honor of my auntie Barbara, who passed away from breast cancer. And so this cause is one that's really meaningful and important for me. And so it's the nonprofit is kind of um, you know, me trying to uh use wrestling, a community that's been extremely supportive, and it's kind of a very interconnected community, and use it as a vehicle to connect with other people through um ideas and causes beyond just athletics and bring us together over something that I'm sure you know we've all been touched by. And so, yeah, so that's what blastable breast cancer is. That's what we do, that's what we stand for. And so I think to answer your question in terms of the ups and downs. So starting it was definitely not easy. It was kind of a learning curve for me. There's like a lot of legal stuff I had to teach myself, a lot of financial stuff. And so just learning that was pretty difficult. Um, and then even beyond that, hosting a wrestling event was pretty tricky. I mean, I don't think like we think about, oh, all the stuff, all the little details that go into running an event. And it's, you know, you have to take a step back and you have to really kind of um organize yourself and be able to make sure all the components are in place and everything's, you know, going well. But I think that it was not only a valuable learning experience for me, I learned a lot from that, but also we were able to raise almost $5,000 for um breast cancer research at the Herbert Urban Comprehensive Cancer Center. And we recently donated that. So I think you know the goal is to continue building and continuing to have you know as great of an impact as we can so we can help as many people as possible.
SPEAKER_00That's a great year one. And and I bet it's only gonna go up from there. Uh, your wrestling tournament hosted at Richwood High School. Uh, again, that's where you wrestled and and that's where you're where you're from and when you went to high school. The my son signed up and and you know, I'm involved with you in the in this nonprofit, and I really wanted to get Brock involved. He wrestled for the first time this past year in the winter in the season. He's he didn't do much other than wrestle people at the gym, some that don't want to be wrestled, but wrestling season and that meet. Um I remember the week or two leading up, we were like, hey, we gotta you know get some registrations in there. You were told that a lot of people kind of sign up the week of. I don't know how serious the discussion got. We don't need to know either about hey, are we actually gonna run this thing? Because with wrestling, you know, we've struggled with this with some running cross of competitions. You do need like a minimum number, you know, because especially so many different weight classes and and divisions, and but that is a big part of starting anything. I mean, starting a business, starting a non-profit, starting a fundraiser is you kind of have to earn your stripes. You you're not gonna have people filing in the door year one. You it's almost like you have to use that first year to prove to everyone out there that you can do this, like that, and you're gonna do this. And you're gonna and I know you were there probably all day, and you were probably exhausted after. And again, that's kind of proving to everyone else, but touch on you, had some support as well. Um, I saw your on there, I saw your your brothers both there working. Um, I really appreciate Manny and Yaya came over and watched Brock wrestle, and they were trying to help him out.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, first match.
SPEAKER_00I don't think he ever emotionally recovered from that.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Um, touch on just something like that requires a group of people, a team of people to really help put their best foot forward. They're not getting paid to do it necessarily, and that's not why they would do it. But touch on, you know, that's humbling. I I've I've gone through that so many times over the years where like you just you can't do that yourself. You need so much help, and you have to be willing to ask for it. Did you kind of experience some of that? Any like take-home moments from that looking back on it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. So I um I'm really grateful for all the support I got from my community. Um, so I was so first like the YMCA, they helped out my Ridgewood YMCA, they helped sponsor the tournament. Um, Ridgewood Junior Wrestling was there helping out. And then um my high school, you know, they let us use their room. The kids on my team were helping volunteer. And so I think that aspect of just putting it together was really amazing to see people come together and support this cause. But I think even beyond that, what was you know even cooler to see was that the larger wrestling community um came together. People from all over New Jersey came. We had, I think, over 200 participants. I know, you know, you said initially, like, yeah, we were having some issues with getting registrations, but it really ballooned up at the end. So we had over 200 kids in that gym for a morning and afternoon session. And I think it's pretty amazing to see that interconnectedness and that sense of community for this cause of breast cancer research. And I was really happy to see that. And I'm hoping that we can continue to grow and expand on that.
SPEAKER_00Great. Yeah, that's great. Where do you want to take this? Just to wrap this up on the fundraiser and blast out there. Do you have a set goal that you want to put out there sometimes? You know, I know people want to keep their goals to themselves and just go focus and just take it one step at a time. But I mean, even next year, where do you want to take this? Do you want this to be bigger? Do you want it just to be run better? Because we're all going to make mistakes and run anything, whether it's statistic scheduling. Where do you want to take this in in 2027?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I still want to host that youth charity fundraiser tournament. And obviously, now that there's some experience, just running it more smoothly and getting even more people to show up. But even beyond just that, um, I'm hoping that we can host like another tournament maybe for collegiate women in the city. Oh no. And yeah, and I'm hoping to do something like that and also just expand the actual nonprofit itself so we can continue to donate more and um help even more people. So just a general expansion overall.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I mean, you're about to expand your network. And again, we'll get to what's next for you individually. Um, but yeah, that's a great, great way to approach it that you're gonna be able to expand your
How Fargo Nationals Works
SPEAKER_00network with where you're headed next. But before we get to what's next for you, I want to talk about this Fargo Nationals. Umone texted me every now and then. I don't know if she your mom tells you, she'll text me while you're out there and let me know how you're doing in these. But someone else texts me in the wrestling community saying, like, dude, Francesca just won Fargo Nationals, and like I'm not a wrestler. Anytime I anytime I see nationals, I'm like, that's pretty legit because I know you're already a state champ, a historic state champ from Ridgewood. I think the last time they've had a state champion wrestling was in the 1960s, so I know that was a huge deal, and we got to watch you wrestle a few times last season. Um, but the Fargo Nationals, someone sent me a text and said, dude, she just won. She's literally a national champion. Can you talk about first of all, congrats. I know I've said this to you, but Kurt Fit Podcast will now congratulate you. What is that process like in terms of qualifying? I understand the high school landscape, but this is not related. How did you qualify even just to go out there and wrestle for the national championship?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so Fargo is uh Fargo Nationals is um sponsored by the Marine Corps and they have two age divisions. And so basically what happens is that there's like regional tournaments that enable you to qualify. So there's like the Northeast regional tournament to qualify for it. And then I know that each state also has a quota, so you can go to freestyle states because that's the style of um the Fargo tournament, and you can qualify there. And then I believe that if you're a returning place winner, that automatically gives you the criteria to you know represent your state at Fargo.
SPEAKER_00What are the two age groups? You said there's two age groups, what are they?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so 16U and juniors.
SPEAKER_00Okay, nice. And you were wait, how old are you?
SPEAKER_01I'm 19. Yeah. So juniors is like juniors and seniors in high school typically.
SPEAKER_00Okay, okay, okay, okay, cool, awesome. All right, now you training for this. Was it different than what we've seen you train for with Ridgewood High School wrestling? You know, because I know that's a structured team practice. I know you saw wrestling as well. Was there anything that you did differently in training, or are you just kind of locked into your crossing routine, your wrestling practices? What was training for like?
SPEAKER_01I think my routine was pretty much the same. I mean, uh I went to Fargo last year and I had like really high expectations for myself last year, and I didn't um I didn't really, you know, get what I wanted to. So I think maybe taking and learning from that loss was part of the component of this year. But I think beyond that, my training routine was pretty much the same. Um, I think that, you know, I consistently went to CrossFit, did weightlifting stuff, and that really helped. And I think maybe working on the mindset training was important too.
SPEAKER_03Okay.
SPEAKER_01And so, yeah, I think it was pretty much similar, but I did try to seek out people who were better than me to partner with because that's always something that's important, you know, to help yourself get better.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And like so, that's kind of like a repeat story for you, right? Because if I remember correctly, you lost, was it in the state championship the year before? Yeah, the year before. So, and again, for any of you young athletes out there, CrossFit
Mental Prep Mantras For Big Moments
SPEAKER_00included, right? We have a lot of young CrossFit competitors. When I say young, they just haven't done it that many times yet. And I competed this weekend um at the uh Vertruvian games Saturday and Sunday. We just I just got home a few hours ago, and I can guy that's you know somewhat new to the CrossFit scene in terms of competing, and he still has a way to go, very talented. Um, but uh it it's there's so many elements to being competitor, a wrestler, especially at your level, you have to lose at some point. You have to get that taste in your mouth because it makes you really uh hyper focus on small details that uh uh you know you could overlook because you're doing so well, and and you know you don't really hit that adversity and you don't know really how to deal with it. What was one thing was there anything that you can tie from your loss at states to winning states, and then loss at Fargo to winning Fargo, is there anything you can kind of pinpoint of like, hey, this is what I did to get better because of what happened to me previously?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I think that one thing that I can definitely connect is the mental aspect of it. I feel like as we get, you know, into higher and higher levels for me, like at higher and higher levels of wrestling tournaments, there's bigger and bigger moments that you kind of have to be prepared for. And it's not just you know being physically ready, it's just being mentally ready to be big enough for the moment. And, you know, I think my first year at States and also my first year at Fargo, I wasn't, you know, prepared enough and big enough for those stages. And so I think that's definitely contributed to why I didn't accomplish what I wanted to. And then I think, you know, moving into the year after that, not only did it light a fire under me, because you know, that was um, I didn't perform up to my own expectations, but I think I also really honed and tried to work on that mental edge and that mental prep too, to be big enough for the moment, both um emotionally ready and mentally ready.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I still get butterflies, like to this day when I'm competing, like to the point like you want to go to the bathroom for the fourth time or you feel like you're gonna touch on, if you're comfortable, anything that you've done that has like specifically to enhance your mental game? Is it meditation? Is it reading? Is it music? Is it you know, do you have a mental coach? Have there been, is there one thing you could pinpoint, or do you want to kind of keep that hush-hush?
SPEAKER_01Oh no, I can speak on this. So I think for me, I completely agree with you, those feelings of butterflies. And I think also the cognitive distortions in our head before we compete telling us you can't do this, or you're gonna embarrass yourself, or oh my gosh, if I lose, that'd actually be the end of the world. And I think these like irrational things in your head that you keep telling yourself they're just not true. Um, for me, it's kind of reframing them and you know, telling myself these positive mantras, such as, like, you know, you're prepared for this, you can only control what you can control. Um, you know, this is an opportunity to go out there and do something you love to do, and you're not gonna have so many chances at this. So take me advantage of that. And I think especially this year at Fargo, what it was for me was just seeing each match as an opportunity to go out there and have fun because you know, that's what I that's why I do my sport. And I think that really helped me not just calm the nerves, but be confident in my ability and you know, be really um calm before I went out there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, just you know, smooth as fast and just being able to like stay locked into what you can do. Those good words of advice, good mantras. I think one thing I've learned from having a mindful coach and listening to you kind of echo it, everyone needs a few mantras to sure. I think that's one thing that everyone that's listening, you can apply this to, and it can be competitive sports like what we're talking about. It can be stuff work-related, job interviews, things that you just get nervous about. And you know, I grew up in the Derek Jeter era of the New York Yankees, and I think one time I don't want to get his quote wrong, but the the mantra he had slash the approach to high pressure situations, he just said being prepared and knowing that you feel that you're fully prepared, meaning you did everything, it takes all the nerves away. Now, does it actually take the nerves away? Does that mean he was never nervous when he was up at bat in the World Series or fielding a ground ball or having to make a big play? I don't think so. I think being nervous is a very natural human emotion that we all go through. But what do you what do you resort to when you're nervous? And I think Derek Jeter listening, you listening to you, it's like I did the work, and that's what I could control. There's gonna be things outside of my control that there's no point in even stressing about it, but there should be less nerves, or you should be able to control them before a big wrestling match or a big job interview because you know that you prepare. Now, if you did not prepare, if you didn't work hard, then maybe those nerves are the ones that start to take over. And I just competed this weekend, I can see it. Nerves that it takes over physically, it takes people over. They can't concentrate, they can't count, they can't listen, they're not in a tunnel, they're all over the place, and maybe that's a result of you know deep down you didn't fully prepare. So I think a lot of this, what your success that you've had at Fargo Nationals, it came from years, not even the months leading up to it came from years of doing things the right way. I don't even know you that well, Francesca. It's been a few years, yeah. But watching all three of you and your father, but specifically you, Yaya, and Manny, you guys from day one do things the right way. And that to me is in five years from now, the the benefits are gonna be there because of that. So that's why I don't I'm not a huge New Year's resolution guy. I'm not a hey, I'm gonna start over tomorrow and start my diet tomorrow. Who you are for five, six, seven years from now is going to dictate your future. Who you are right now is going to dictate your future in five seven years. And I think that's a you're a prime result, uh, example
Columbia Women’s Wrestling Goes D1
SPEAKER_00of that. All right. Well, let's get into your next step for wrestling because I actually am really intrigued by this. I purposely haven't been asking this because I want to kind of make this part of this conversation here. You're you're going to college literally next week.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Selfishly, I'm upset by it. I'm happy for you, but you know, we've had this over the years, I would say now about a dozen times where someone's worked out with us in their teens throughout high school for years, and then all of a sudden, bam, they're off to college. And you get upset that you don't get to see them and work with them anymore, and especially athletes that are as coachable as you. But um, you leave for college next day, and you are are you planning on wrestling at Columbia?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So I'm going to be on the women's wrestling team.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome. So they have a women's wrestling team, and I know it's a growing sport, and you're very the uh early side of that curve for the sport itself. Um, if wrestling really takes off for women in five to ten years, you're gonna be, I think, one of the people that we all look back on and say, hey, that was a reason why, which is a pretty cool thing to be a part of. Is have they always had a women's program?
SPEAKER_01Um, so Columbia Women's Wrestling, so they're uh actually they just had a really big um milestone. So next year is going to be the first year that we'll be a Division I team, and we're the first like Division I Ivy League team, uh women's team. So that's pretty cool. And I think so. Columbia has had a club team for the past, I don't know for how long, but for definitely for the past maybe five, six years. And I've talked to a lot of girls on the team, and I know the coach, Coach Emma Randall, um has run the club like a division one program. So a lot of the girls have told me it's not like we'll be changing anything, we'll just be continuing to do what we do, but now we'll have officially have the title of a division one team and can participate in the NCAA championships. So I think that's pretty cool to be a part of.
SPEAKER_00Is that gonna be the winter of 27 going into 28? Or is that yeah?
SPEAKER_01So my my sophomore year.
SPEAKER_00Got it. Yeah. So now your freshman year, how much? I mean, is this ankle injury gonna impact what you're doing your freshman season for Columbia? Does does it not really matter? Because again, you're going back to freshman level now. You're now the new girl, you're no longer the better team. Yeah. Um, and I know there's redshirt options, and now that you're entering division one, I bet there's gonna be a whole nother set of options um for you. Are you kind of looking to the season to try to be 100% before then? Or is that not really your main goal? You're just taking it a day at a time.
SPEAKER_01So I'm it would be really nice to get ready for this season um and you know, get be ready to go right when it starts. But I think that I'm kind of just taking it a day at a time. I don't want to rush recovery. And I think it's really important to prioritize, you know, being healthy now because I don't want another injury, you know, two years from now. So I think that it's important, but also I I'm just trying to, you know, be as careful as I can. And then when I do return, when that does happen, I want to be ready to go.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Uh if there's one piece of advice I can give you watching crosshoters myself, get back to 100%, even if it takes extra time. Don't get to 80% and then start going full speed because yeah, you'll just you'll never touch 100% if you keep re-entering that thing. What does rehab look for you? What does it look like for you? What are you doing to rehab this ankle?
SPEAKER_01So I haven't started rehab yet. Right now, I'm still um non-weight bearing in a splint, and then eventually I'll be in a boot and then I'll start PT. And I mean, I I haven't started it yet, but I'm sure it'll look like just you know, strengthening exercises and just getting back to 100%.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. So don't you be showing up to the gym tomorrow asking to do bob chumps and running? Although I know you could. Now, um in college, does it change from club to division one in terms of like weight classes for women, or do you kind of do you know if it does the club level, does it kind of replicate what you're gonna see at the division one? Because I'm curious where where does the weight classes start in in women's at the college level?
SPEAKER_01So it's all the same. We start at 103 pounds, and then I I'm not really sure what it goes up to, but okay.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So and are you gonna try to push your weight a little bit over the next year to just try to get? I know one of your goals has always been since day one has to get you know a little bit stronger, which you have,
Rehab Patience And Weight Class Reality
SPEAKER_00and while maintaining your quickness and your agility and your mobility, all that. Um is that definitely what you're gonna be eyeing out, that 103 pound class?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, uh, that's like the smallest weight class. So that's probably the one I'll be trying to uh wrestle at. Um, I I'm currently at like 99 a hundred. So, you know, I'm not extremely underweight, but I have been really underweight for weight classes before. So that's definitely something I've had to work on and build and you know develop.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, it's tough. It's tough to, you know, wrestlers. I mean, I think that's another reason why wrestlers are so just locked in. I every wrestler, every successful wrestler I know, they have a different level of just ability to be disciplined and concentration and just staying the same year to year, day to day. And that's one thing like that's honestly one of the reasons why I like Brock just being involved in it. I don't know where he's gonna go with it. He'll stay with it. Um, but yeah, that that's all awesome. Now, the in in terms of is it too soon for me to ask this? Like, where do you want to take your wrestling career? I mean, now that you're going to college for this, I'm assuming you know, you're gonna be going to college and taking your courses and pursuing a career. Is there anything that you're kind of still have your eyes set on, even if it's like, hey, that is a really lofty goal? Is there anything that you kind of in the back of your head you're kind of pursuing in as a wrestler beyond college?
SPEAKER_01Um, I think beyond college, I don't know what that looks like for me yet, but I know that in college for sure, in terms of wrestling, I want to win a national championship on the NCAAs. I think that would be really cool to accomplish. So that's kind of what's like I think is ahead for me right now.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Um, so yeah.
SPEAKER_00It's exciting. I'll tell you what, it's really exciting to be at the beginning of a process that is grueling. I mean, you know more than anyone how gruel process it will be to get to that level, to be the number one wrestler in the country. And I wouldn't put it past you. Like, I think you can do it. I I believe in you, and I know a lot of people thank you. But it's also you have to do a lot of work and you have to be really for sure. Yeah. And I again, this goes back to what you're doing right now, next year, the year after, leads to you not being that nervous about it three, four years from now you get your shot because you are gonna put the work in and there you're controlling everything you can control. Um, how do you plan to balance this with all of your schoolwork? Because that's uh that's not a joke of a school, Columbia. Yeah. Um do you know you're studying yet?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm gonna be I plan on majoring in international relations and then doing something with finance as well. So that's my plan. And then to answer your other question, I think that it's definitely gonna be a bit of an adjustment, but also I've been balancing and juggling wrestling with a lot of other things already in high school. And I I know it's not gonna be exactly the same, but I think some of that, you know, discipline and those skills will carry over.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. No, how you do anything is how you do everything. And I think, yeah, your foundation's there. I just didn't know if there was any sort of like anxiety that you were having. I mean, in some ways, it could even be better. I mean, you're it's you know, just workout-wise. I mean, do you plan on doing? You've been doing CrossFit as a base program for a few years now. I'm assuming now that you're gonna be part of a team, you're gonna have a workout program built for you and you're gonna have to kind of follow that. Is that kind of what your your goalslash mojo is gonna be for training in terms of weights and stuff? It's gonna kind of follow that college program.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I know we have lifting schedules and we have, and I know that's unestablished for us, but I think that I think it's so important that I find time and you know do a workout on my own. I don't know if it'll be every day, but you know, throughout the week. And I think that could look like you know, just doing a CrossFit workout on my own.
SPEAKER_00Okay, great. Yeah, and I mean that's one good thing I've heard a lot of people say about involved cross-fit. You've learned so much over the years that you really, if you had to or you had the opportunity to, you can kind of put some stuff together and training on your own if you had some open gym time type stuff. All right. Well, hey, I mean, look, Francesca, it's been an awesome, awesome time, like honor, pleasure, all those nice adjectives, just working as a person, as an athlete, um, really happy for you in your next step and really happy that we still get to, you know, at least get a piece of Manny and Yaya um in their future,
Why Wrestling Builds Life Skills
SPEAKER_00and we'll get to watch their high school wrestling career, still have to get to their matches coming up. Um but if there's anything that's you know, if someone's watching this and says, like, hey, I have a child or I am the child, if we have a teenager listening to this, yeah, if you could just, you know, the success that you've had in the sport and starting a nonprofit and getting into Columbia and everything you're going to accomplish. I mean, I know it's not one thing, it's not one mantra that got you there, but if there's one thing that you can kind of leave and let them sit with, what would it be in terms of, hey, this is how, not how I got there, how you're gonna get there, but there's something to let sit in your head as you kind of pondering what your next steps are. What would that be?
SPEAKER_01I think just you know, getting involved in wrestling is a really big thing, I feel like. I think it's a sport that teaches you a lot and it packs a lot of lessons in just that one activity. And I think especially, you know, for girls that are trying to get involved with a sport and or maybe wrestling, I think it's really important. It teaches resilience, teaches you know, fortitude, being able to be, you know, scared and being fearful, being able to take a loss and learn from it. And I think that wrestling kind of encapsulates all those things really, really well. And I think it's definitely helped me develop, you know, my discipline, my ability to, you know, learn from losing, to, you know, move on from losing. And I think those skills are very transferable, not just to, you know, getting involved in high school and things like that, but also just life in general. I mean, those are definitely things that are going to be important for me as I move on into you know college and beyond into like a job. And I think that a lot of people might agree that it's very important to have those skills in their lives.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. I I couldn't couldn't couldn't agree more. And I think that's a big reason why you're seeing the success, uh, but you're also only on the early side to it. You're you're only getting started and you know you're not going to get too content and take your foot off the gas. Like you're gonna keep keeping all right. Well, thanks again so much. Best of luck to you. Um, I'm sure, I'm hoping I'll at least see you at the gym. We'll see if you're allowed to get um between now and next Sunday. But I know you always have a gym to work out at when you're back home and visiting for holidays and in between seasons right now. But we'll definitely be tracking, following, and supporting you from afar. And uh hopefully we'll get into the city one day and watch you wrestling at Columbia.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_00All right, thanks, Francesco.
Farewell And Next Steps
SPEAKER_00Thank you, everybody, for taking the time out of your day to listen to the Herd Fit podcast. Be on the lookout for next week's episode.