Winning has become a way of life this year for Scotts Valley High wrestler Domino Parrish as her sensationally successful season has taken her well beyond the local competition to being considered among the elite high school wrestlers nationwide.
After a dominating run in which the junior was named as an All-American, and won — among others — the California Interscholastic Federation state championships and the USA Wrestling Girls Folkstyle Nationals, one might think Parrish might be ready to relax a bit.
Hardly.
Though the Falcon team’s regular season ended in March, Parrish has been busy competing in — and winning — tournaments.
Now, she has her eyes set on bringing home a second national title — this time in the freestyle event at the USA Wrestling ASICS/Vaughan Cadet and Junior Nationals competition in July in Fargo, N.D.
“This is the big one,” said Mike Parrish, Domino Parrish’s father and assistant coach of the Falcon team. “This is where you get all your scouting, this is where you get all your rankings.”
According to Mike Parrish, the freestyle wrestling competition regularly draws in scouts looking to recruit, not only for colleges and universities, but also for the U.S. Olympic Team.
To qualify to compete in Fargo, Mike Parrish said, wrestlers must place in the top three at either the Las Vegas/Asics U.S. Open or at the California USA Wrestling freestyle competition, which was held in April in Fresno.
Domino Parrish qualified twice, he said.
“She did them at different weights,” Mike Parrish said, adding that that allowed Domino Parrish to select which weight class to compete in based on the bracket.
Although she’s taken a brief break from training to focus on finishing school, Domino Parrish said that she’s looking forward to heading to Fargo, and has been working with Freddy Cortez with the Scotts Valley Wrestling Academy to prepare for the competition.
“It’s really exciting,” Domino Parrish said. “It’s way better than taking second in state (which happened last year).”
