Homewood-Flossmoor High School junior London Gandy has a simple philosophy about wrestling.
“You got to have a good time,” she said. “A lot of girls carry anxiety into a match. It happens to all of us, but as soon as I get on that mat I’m going to wrestle my heart out. I’ll have fun and win, lose, draw, I’ll wrestle my heart out.”
Gandy had some fun at the state meet on Feb. 28 and March 1 in Champaign, taking the sixth-place medal at 110 pounds.
state meet in Champaign. (Provided photo by Justin Hames/Beat
the Streets)
Before the season began, Gandy said her biggest goal was just to qualify for state. That evolved over the course of the year, and she began to have more success than she expected. At some point, making the podium was the new aim.
“I definitely did work hard to get where I am now, so that’s something that I’m proud about,” Gandy said. “(Qualifying) was the big goal for me, but it did change because I did fight hard to get where I wanted to be.”
Gandy’s draw was a difficult one. She had to wrestle returning champion and eventual repeat title winner Angelina Gochis from Kaneland in the second round. Kaneland tallied a technical fall in the second period.
“Some people would get mad after that match, but you’ve got to realize you have many matches after that,” Gandy said. “Just because you lost in the quarterfinals, semifinals, doesn’t mean you’re not still wrestling for something.”
Gandy said she dusted herself off and won the next two matches. The first was a 17-3 major decision over Lily Gwaltney of Streator and then a 6-2 win over Elk Grove’s Valeria Pesantes.
Traveling to wrestle girls from other parts of the country, both with H-F and during the summer, gave Gandy a different level of confidence this season, she said. She plans to do a lot more in the coming summer and looks forward to the Beat the Streets National Duals.
“If I’m just wrestling girls from Illinois, I might not see the different styles (I saw from other states),” she said. “Once you get more comfortable with some people’s wrestling styles it’s like ‘OK, I can do that.’”
Zoey Dempsey from Lincoln-Way Central and Rilynn Younker from Litchfield beat Gandy in the consolation bracket. Her final record for the season is 43-10.
Senior Nina Hamm also qualified for state but did not place. She finished 43-9. Hamm also qualified as a sophomore.
