State champion Mackenzie Childers inspires Cedar Rapids Prairie wrestling teammates

CEDAR RAPIDS — Mackenzie Childers remembers it like yesterday.

Her mom was taking tickets at a Cedar Rapids Jefferson athletics event, and she saw wrestlers heading to the wrestling room for practice. On that fateful day in second grade, she knew she wanted to get out on the mat, too.

“I followed them into the wrestling room and watched,” Childers said. “I knew wrestling was something I always wanted to do. So, I started wrestling with Bad Boys Wrestling Club, and I was the only girl.”

On Thursday, she found herself back at that same school for a dual with Jefferson. This time, she was sporting Cedar Rapids Prairie’s black and orange.

“It’s special to get to wrestle Jefferson in their own gym, since this is where I started wrestling,” Childers said. “Some of my very first tournaments were here.”

Childers helped lead Prairie to a 57-12 win over Jefferson, with seven of the Hawks’ match victories by fall.

She was one of them, needing just 50 seconds to show her opponent, Chancelline Roussi of Jefferson, the lights.

Off to a dominating start in her junior campaign with a record of 20-2 and ranked No. 1 at 130 pounds, Childers is using her state title from a year ago as her motivation for working hard.

“This season, I’ve been working on the little things,” Childers said. “After a state title, everyone is chasing you, and you have to work 10 times harder.”

One person who knows Childers is working hard is Prairie Coach Zach Becicka. He considers Childers as the team’s catalyst and knows she has a drive for helping her teammates get better on the mat.

“It’s like we have a fifth coach in the room,” Becicka said. “Whoever is wrestling with her as a partner is going to get some extra coaching on top of it. She understands the culture we are trying to build.”

With Prairie having no other returning state qualifiers, Childers is all about helping her teammates prepare for a strong showing during the postseason.

One of her big goals, aside from repeating her state title? Having more Hawks at the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union state tournament in February.

“I want to help my teammates who almost made it to state last year,” Childers said. “I want to help them achieve their goal of being a state qualifier this year. I think it would be crazy to see some of our freshmen, who are in their second or third year of wrestling, make it to state.”

Between her wrestling expertise and support of her teammates, Becicka knows Childers is inspiring the team to win — just like she does.

“She (Childers) sets the tone,” Becicka said. “It’s been really exciting to see a lot of girls in our program who want to get to that level. We have some girls who are starting to take that role and want to be the best.

“It’s just a matter of starting to believe that we can be the best.”