You can do this. Just wrestle. Do what you do.
In the fleeting moments of calm before Miyuki Pugrad hits the mat, she’ll close her eyes and repeat encouragement internally.
Breathing stabilizes her nerves as she clears her mind of congestion.
This is her time to relax. The calm before the storm.
“If you think too much during a match, you mess up,” she said. “Wrestling isn’t about thinking. It’s about reacting, being technically strong. Meditating before a match is when I clear my mind fully, when I take it all in. It’s a break for my mind more than for my body.”
Pugrad, the 2014-15 Fullerton News-Tribune Girl Athlete of the Year, is one of the state’s best girl wrestlers, and many Orange County wrestling folk believe Kennedy High’s senior-to-be will be even better next season.
“She’s come to know herself through wrestling,” said her mother, Carol. “She’s slowly realizing her capabilities, her options in life. Wrestling’s been a blessing to our family. There are things I can’t always teach her, things that she has to learn on her own. Wrestling gives her the confidence to keep going.
“It’s been a nice journey.”
***
Few people enjoy practice as much as Pugrad.
Her thirst for knowledge is matched only by her endless reservoir of energy, and though Mike Kim, Kennedy’s second-year coach, says he’ll never exhaust ways to challenge her competitively, he’s fortunate to have only one more year to find new means.
Kim saw greatness in Pugrad long before she saw it in herself. Three years ago, he assured her that her intangibles and heart would compensate for her physical and strategical disadvantages.
Pugrad, previously a runner and a gymnast, didn’t believe him.
“She came in uncoordinated,” Kim recalled, “but she had desire, and you can’t coach that. She loves to train; nobody loves to train, believe me. Nobody loves to train. But she trains because of her desire to improve. She really enjoys it.
“She’s the first one in the wrestling room and the last one to leave.”
Tentative as a beginner, but athletic and a fast learner, Pugrad in 2013 apprenticed under Sarah Rodriguez – a senior and repeat letter winner at the time. Together, they alternated wrestling boys in practice, and Pugrad absorbed everything Rodriguez taught her about aggression and strategy.
Both girls qualified for the CIF State Girls Wrestling Championships that winter, with Pugrad – wrestling then at 114 pounds – advancing to the second round after her scheduled opponent forfeited. She would then lose consecutive matches on points, ending her freshman season.
She later was the first girl recipient of Kennedy’s Most Improved Wrestler award.
***
Wrestling must be easier when there’s little to no pressure. When, in competition, a wrestler can just react, rely on muscle memory and win or lose without any real repercussions.
As a novice, Pugrad said she had that liberty. “Happy-go-lucky,” she called her naive freshman self.
When Rodriguez graduated from Kennedy, however, Pugrad inherited team captain responsibilities and grew up quickly as a result.
No longer a newcomer, Pugrad set high standards and mentored others in practice while also balancing personal expectations. She began lifting weights and conditioning regularly. She added bulk to her frame, and her resulting strength complemented a meticulous wrestling style.
Pugrad continued learning the sport’s nuances, subsisting early in her sophomore year on heart and resiliency.
And she kept winning.
“There are athletes who have talent, but have no heart,” Kim said. “And there are athletes who have heart, but no talent. Miyuki was the rare young kid with both talent and heart. Coachable and open-minded.”
Pugrad’s sophomore season culminated in a sixth-place finish at the CIF-SS Championships and another crack at the state title. She narrowly missed a medal at 116 pounds, winning two matches before losing by points in the quarterfinals and by fall in the consolation bracket.
“My third season, my goal was to get as far as I could,” Pugrad said. “I work hard. I love working hard. It’s my thing, I guess.”
***
At February’s CIF-SS Championships, Pugrad pinned Santa Monica High’s Maddy Tung to capture the title at 126 pounds.
Later, at the state tournament, Pugrad pinned consecutive opponents in 64 and 67 seconds. She then defeated her fellow semifinalist, 6-5.
On Feb. 28, in the championship match, she lost, 3-1, to Valencia High junior Gabby Garcia, now the three-time state champion.
“Working hard – all the mat sprints, the push-ups – you may be dying when you’re doing them, but all that work pays off,” Pugrad said.
Kim abhors the word “wrestler,” especially when it’s used to describe someone as versatile and resourceful as his treasured letter winner.
Over the past two years, Kim has taught Pugrad jiu-jitsu and judo, and Pugrad has created a wrestling style all her own.
“She’s having fun linking the strengths and weaknesses of these martial arts,” Kim said. “She’s entered jiu-jitsu tournaments in the offseason. She’s becoming a complete grappler.”
Pugrad will again be a captain in the winter, and Kim hopes her success paves the way for his and the county’s next wave of girl wrestlers.
“I like seeing younger girls coming up, wrestling more,” Pugrad said. “The sport already is getting big. It’s expanding. I see more girls joining the sport that I love, and it’s uplifting.”
***
Carol Pugrad, Miyuki’s mother, once thought wrestling was all about winning and losing – a perspective that has eroded over time.
“Thinking about wrestling that way ruins the enjoyment of competition,” she said, later adding how she now values improvement over all else.
Her daughter, meanwhile, is training for future successes as hard, if not harder, in the summer as she did during the school year.
Kim doesn’t scale back off-season practices, and he believes his summer regimens make the regular season that much easier. Pugrad has wrestled in local and national tournaments since her junior season ended in March.
At the USA Wrestling Girls Folkstyle National Championships on March 28, Pugrad finished third at 125 pounds. Two weeks later, she wrestled up a weight class at 145 pounds and took first at the USAW Girls Freestyle National Championships.
“These tournaments,” Pugrad said, “they’re really just practice. If I lose, fine. I’m just working on my technique. Whatever happens these next four months, how well I do, I’ll be able to take advantage of what I learned and use it my senior year.”
Pugrad, 17, is being actively recruited, but knows little about the colleges seeking her commitment.
Kim is withholding from her many of those details, sharing them only with her parents. For the time being, Kim is encouraging Pugrad to prepare for her senior year, to focus on her studies, take the SAT and search for a college that accommodates her academically.
Pugrad has friends and former club teammates at the next level, and many of her peers here are bound for college the year after next.
She’s received the same advice from them all: Don’t just go to a college because somebody wants you to wrestle.
Contact the writer: 714-704-3790 or bwhitehead@ocregister.com
