Passion for wrestling and family powers Colorado Mesa’s Marissa Gallegos back to National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships finals

CEDAR RAPIDS — Marissa Gallegos possesses a passion for wrestling.

The sport is her source of sanity and of fun. Wrestling also serves as a tie that binds her family, which is the one thing that means more to the Colorado Mesa University redshirt junior.

“We share the wrestling bond,” Gallegos said. “We’ve shared that grind when we were kids. We traveled together, made memories and went to camps together. They mean a lot to me.

“My mom and dad did everything they could to support me, taking me to practice an hour or two away and making sure I could go to tournaments, even though money was tight growing up.”

With her mom, Bernadette, and grandparents in the stands, Gallegos returned to the finals for the second time in two years at the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships on Saturday at Alliant Energy PowerHouse.

Gallegos defeated East Stroudsburg’s Sofia Macaluso, 10-4, in the 123-pound semifinals.

“To me, this means a lot,” Gallegos said. “It shows I put my heart in the Lord and trusted in Him. I knew if I focused on the outcome here it was going to make me tense. It was going to make me nervous.

“Right now, I just focus on giving my best effort and that’s all I can do.”

Gallegos is one of college wrestling’s best, earning her fourth All-America honor after getting second in 2021 and third in 2020 and 2022. She also is a former U.S. Senior World Team member.

The Colorado state champion and national runner-up was asked why she remained within hours from her childhood home when some of her peers traveled halfway across the country to wrestle. She was quick to point out family was a major factor.

“I’m the oldest of seven and with that I have a lot of younger siblings that I wanted to stay close to make sure they’re doing well in school,” said Gallegos, whose brothers, Nick and Angelo also attend CMU. “We’re from the inner-city of Denver. There’s a lot of distractions there. I just want to be there for them, if they ever needed anything. I wanted them to follow my path and so far I have two brothers enrolled and wrestling at CMU as well.

“We had some health issues in our family, too, when I was going into college. I wanted to stay close to my dad (Nick) for that, so that’s why I stayed.”

Gallegos, 22, is just 20 months older than Nick, who is a redshirt sophomore for the Mavericks. She has three other siblings within five years of her. The tight-knit group depended on one another as their parents worked tirelessly to provide for them.

“We’re all very close in age,” Gallegos said. “I think growing up, our parents worked a lot, so at times we raised each other. We took turns cooking. We took turns doing dishes. We all wrestled at some point in our lives. Some don’t wrestle anymore. My brothers do in college with me.”

Older sister continues to help her brothers and sisters. She has earned a full-ride academic scholarship, allowing her to afford her education. Gallegos has dedicated herself to guide siblings to scholarship opportunities and help them apply. She has also done that for teammates as well, allowing her to transition from laser-focused introvert to someone who enjoys assisting others.

“She’s selfless,” CMU Coach Travis Mercado said. “She wants to help everybody out however she can. She’s learning how to do that more and more, opening herself up. I think she wants to enjoy that team. She finds reasons and ways to interact and be helpful is how she does that.”

As impressive as Gallegos’ feats seem, none of them have come easily. She had a long road back from a shoulder injury and surgery years ago. She also suffered a broken hand the week of nationals in 2021. Last season, nerves got the best of her in an early loss.

Gallegos battled doubt, wondering if she would ever return to her previous form. She persevered and returned to the championship bout.

“I’ve had to deal with a lot of adversity,” Gallegos said. “I knew I was capable. I knew I was going to do it again. I thought I was going to do it again last year but things happen. I think I’ve grown a lot and worked on areas I wasn’t confident in.”

Gallegos opened with a decision and a pin, outscoring those two foes by a 21-2 total. She scored the first four points with eight points in the second period against Macaluso.

“She’s really diversified her attack,” Mercado said. “She’s always looking to score from different things.”

The biggest focus is on being more offensive and aggressive. She’s concentrated on varying her attacks, working on lower-leg shots instead of relying on big throws. A summer at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., was beneficial.

“It’s a constant reminder that you can arm spin everybody in the world but you also have a leg attack to the right and left,” Mercado said. “You know how to win in front headlocks.

“It’s just being very confident in those positions. She’s doing a great job of that.”

Colorado has produced notable women wrestlers, like six-time World champion Adeline Gray, Junior World champion and U.S. World Team member Maya Nelson and North Central (Ill.) College’s 116-pound finalist Jaslynn Gallegos. Mercado said the two-time finalist will have the same impact on younger wrestlers.

“She’s a great role model,” Mercado said. “Girls want to be like Marissa Gallegos, a four-time All-American, and an Olympic Trials qualifier.”

Colorado Mesa had two finalists and locked up fourth, advancing Dalia Garibay to the 155 final.

North Central led the way with six finalists, tallying 182 points before the championship matches. King (Tenn.) University had five finalists, sitting in second with 159. Three-time defending champion McKendree was a distant third with 131 1/2 before the finals.

McKendree had two wrestlers poised to make history. Emily Shilson at 109 and 191-pounder Sydnee Kimber reached the finals and attempted to become the first NCWWC four-time champions. North Central’s Yelena Makoyed scored her third pin to reach the 170 finals, making her a four-time finalist with a chance to win a third title.