MUSKEGON TWP. - It would be very Disney-like to report that Sidney Shackelford became a wrestler to complete the dream her mother couldn't finish back in high school.
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Her mom, Melissa Shackelford (whose maiden name was Buys) was a Reeths-Puffer student and a real pioneer in girls wrestling back in the late 1990s.
She competed on the middle school team with all boys, and hoped to continue in high school, but had to stop for various reasons, including some resistance she encountered.
The bottom line was that there were so few girls to compete against, and at her weight, it was physically impossible to beat the boys and crack the R-P varsity lineup.
Sidney Shackelford, R-P's first female state wrestling qualifier
Shackelford grew up hearing those stories, and felt bad for her mom - but that’s not why she decided to go out for wrestling.
She’s just a very smart kid with very diverse interests, and she loves new challenges.
She is a straight-A student. She runs on the varsity cross country team, competes in shot put and discus in track, and performs in Reeths-Puffer’s award-winning marching band.
She even started studying and training to fly small airplanes a few years ago, and is hoping to have her first solo flight on her 16th birthday in May.
So why wouldn’t she try wrestling?
Sidney with her mom after winning a regional title.
“I thought it was cool that she wrestled in school,” Shackelford said about her mother's experience. “But growing up, I was never like, 'Oh I can’t wait to do it.' I never really thought about it. Then one day in sixth grade, my mom came home and said wrestling started in a week, and I said I would try it.”
It turned out to be a very good choice for Shackelford, who recently became the first Reeths-Puffer female wrestler to win a regional championship, and also the first to qualify for the girls state finals.
“I was not expecting that to happen,” Shackelford said about ending up a regional champion as a sophomore. “I didn’t feel ready, and I went into the day worried about whether I could even qualify for state.”
She will compete this weekend at the MHSAA Division 1 girls finals at Detroit’s Ford Field against top competitors from all over the Michigan. R-P freshman standout Landon Learn will compete in the boys finals.
“I am nervous and excited,” Shackelford said. “I’m just a little nervous about how I’m going to perform there, I guess. Once I get on the mat I probably won’t really think about where I’m at, but when we first get there it will probably be a little intimidating.”
A long solo effort
Shackelford was not very good at all when she first started middle school wrestling as a sixth-grader. She lost every match of the season, all against boys, until her last one, and was not having very much fun at all.’
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The truth is that she stuck it out partly because of a deal she made with her mom, who agreed to buy her wrestling gear if she promised to finish at least one season.
“That entire year, I really did not want to be there,” she said. “I mean, I wanted to try it out, but the sport is not really fun when you are getting beat on every day. I think I wanted to quit a lot.”
Her mother remembers those early days.
"I was excited for her, but also nervous, because I know what it takes to succeed," Melissa Shackelford said. “None of it came natural to her. That kid was so sore and so tired.”
Sidney gets her arm raised after winning a match. Photo/Joe Lane
Winning that final match in her first season, against a boy, was huge for Shackelford. It gave her the motivation she needed to return to wrestling the following year.
“I never really saw myself beating anybody, because I was so bad, then when I beat him, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I am finally better than somebody!’” she said.
Shackelford threw herself into the sport in the following years, training and competing in national tournaments in the offseason. She became a consistent winner in the seventh and eighth grades - wrestling mostly against boys - and found quick success when she reached high school, wrestling mostly girls.
She's had an unusual and challenging experience, however. While girls high school wrestling has exploded in recent years, and some schools even have full teams, Shackelford has remained a pioneer at R-P, much like her mom was.
She was the only girl on her middle school teams, and the only girl wrestler at the high school in her freshman season. Two other girls came out for the sport this year, but only one of them, Brooklyn Colson, finished out the season with Shackelford.
Sidney is 29-10 this season, heading into the state finals. Photo/Joe Lane
While the R-P boys compete as a really big team, and are there to root each other on at every event, Shackelford and her female teammates were often on their own.
They practiced with the boys team every day, and attended the team’s dual matches during the week, but did not wrestle as part of the regular varsity event. They competed against other girls if there is someone near their weight class to wrestle.
Melissa Shackelford usually drove them to weekend girls tournaments, and was always one of the coaches in her daughter's corner.
Shackelford has grown accustomed to competing largely on her own. She feels like she’s definitely part of the R-P wrestling team, but sort of at a distance.
“I’ve just done it this way for so long, so it feels normal to me,” she said. “It seems weird whenever I see a full girls team.”
Sidney in the cockpit during her flight lessons.
Shackelford said it took some time to gain the respect of the boys in the R-P wrestling program, but now considers a lot of them friends.
“It my first year in sixth grade, I literally didn't talk to anybody the entire year,” she said. “I felt like once I got better, I started getting a little respect, and people started talking to me. I felt like if I wasn't very good, I wouldn't have a lot of friends on the team. Now I have people I can talk to.”
Shackelford admits she has benefited a lot from practicing against R-P boys over the years, because it's more difficult and the competition makes her better.
"I honestly prefer that, just because I feel like it makes me more aggressive,” she said.
Shackelford has had the full support of the R-P wrestling program. The Rocket coaches make sure she and her female teammates are signed up for tournaments, and at least one of them tries to be in their corner at every event, even when the boys are competing elsewhere.
Sidney also competes in cross country and track and field.
R-P head coach Brad Cowles demonstrated his respect for Sidney on regional weekend last month, when he traveled with the boys to their tournament at Portage Northern High School on Saturday, then traveled to coach Sidney in Cadillac on Sunday.
That was something her mom appreciated very much.
“He had a crazy long two days, driving two-plus hours in two different directions,” Melissa Shackelford said about Cowles. “His amazing wife made the trip, too, to support him and Sidney.
“The school has done a great job of giving her the opportunity to be in as many tournaments as the boys. She’s had a full schedule.”
Beating bad luck and her opponents
Shackelford has had a lot of success so far in high school, posting a 22-11 record as a freshman and is 29-10 mark so far this year.
But she had to overcome some really bad luck to do as well as she’s done.
It started last year at the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association Tournament, when she dislocated her collarbone. She battled back from the injury and qualified for regionals, but wasn’t quite the same all season, and lost the regional match that would have put her in the state finals as a freshman.
This season started out really bad for Shackelford, because she got very sick just as things got rolling and ended up losing her first six matches.
“I got some type of cold, then it turned into bronchitis, and I was sick for awhile,” Shackelford said. “I still went to everything, but I could not breathe well at all. I would go into matches and start winning, then I would stop breathing right and lose. The beginning was really tough.”
Photo/Joe Lane
Her season started turning around at a tournament in Howell, when she managed to get her first victory and finish in fourth place in her weight class.
After that she turned on the jets, taking first place in her weight class at a tournament in Fennville, then winning a championship at the GMAA tournament, which pits every wrestler from Muskegon County schools against each other.
When the postseason rolled around, she finished second at districts to quality for regionals, then did even better at the next level, winning the 145-pound regional title.
Her first match at regionals did not start out well. She fell behind Forest Hills Central’s Lulu Cousins 3-0, then rallied to beat her 5-3.
That took her to the championship match, which she quickly won by pinning Gladwin’s Charlotte Mawhorter in 1:23.
Photo/Joe Lane
Shackelford has managed to meet so many challenges because she’s dedicated and tough, according to Coach Cowles, who has been working with her since the sixth grade.
"In the very beginning she was not very good,” he said. “It was kind of like she had two left feet. She was kind of awkward. But then she started to become a really good wrestler. She still has quite a bit of work to do, but she’s made a huge improvement.
“She’s one of the most driven kids I have ever known. She puts in the work and competes in the offseason. She’s very aggressive – kind of an in-your-face type of wrestler. She practices with the boys and she doesn’t back down from anybody.”
Her mother knows that’s true.
"She’s got a fight and drive in her that I am envious of,” she said. “I am super proud. Sidney is an amazing kid.”
Shackelford is a typical teenager in some ways. She admits she sometimes worries and wonders if she will succeed, but also sets high goals for herself and usually meets them
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Sidney at the top of the medal podium after winning her regional title.
She’s not satisfied to just be a state qualifier. She wants to do well at Ford Field and come home with a medal, which go to the top eight wrestlers in each weight class.
“I think I’m ranked ninth, but I know I can beat some of the people above me,” she said.
Coach Cowles is not making any predictions for this year, but believes anything is possible for Shackelford in the future.
“I could see, by her senior year, if she stays toward the lighter end and puts in the work, she could be at the top of the podium at state, for sure,” he said.