Women’s History Month highlights those who break barriers and set an example for others to follow. A small but mighty Dallas high school athlete has been doing that in a place you might not expect. Noelle Walker has her story.
Wrestler Alexa Anahi Rodriguez Lopez holds the Hillcrest High School record for wins; that's for boys or girls wrestling.
Wrestling practice at Hillcrest High School in Dallas is a way for athletes to get tips from some of the team's best.
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WATCH HERE"So when I grab my single, I want to move him to me," Alexa Anahi Rodriguez Lopez said as her teammates watched a demonstration.
Alexa is a 4-foot-11, 95-pound powerhouse on the mat.
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"Our 285-pounder, he gave me the name 'Mighty Mouse,'" Alexa said smiling. "I'll go out there, wrestle anybody. I'm not scared of anybody. I think that's the best thing about it!"
"She just is a competitor," Hillcrest High School Boys & Girls Head Wrestling Coach Randall Balch said. "She will, if it's flipping coins, if it's who can finish lunch fastest, whatever it is she has to be first."
Alexa has been wrestling since she was a freshman. She used to play basketball too, but being 4-foot-11, she decided wrestling was more her lane.
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"It's turned me into a completely different athlete. It's held me accountable for everything I do. I come here and, like, most of my girls are like, 'I look up to you a lot,'" Alexa said. "It fuels something in me because I never felt like I was good enough at anything. So when I come here, it's like they all believe in me, they're counting on me."
Alexa holds the Hillcrest High School record for wrestling wins.
"I have, I think it's 180...181 wins," Alexa said looking at her coach for confirmation. "Which is the most of either boys or girls," Balch added.
"When you think of Dallas, you're like, oh football or basketball," Alexa said. "So it's great to see women's wrestling come up in Dallas ISD, not only because of me but all the new women's programs that are starting new."
Girl's Wrestling is the fastest-growing high school sport in the country.
"I don't refer to them as girls, 'cause they're doing a woman's work out here," Balch said. "They've built our program into what it is."
"I feel it's made me a better person," Alexa said. "I'm proud of who I've become, and who my coach has helped me become, and my teammates."
Alexa has been offered full-ride scholarships for wrestling and plans to announce next week where she'll go to college. Her future goals include playing for the national team of her parents' homeland, El Salvador, and going to the Olympics one day.
"There's pride, and then there's PRIDE," Balch said of his student-athlete.
"The people that surround me are what make me love it," Alexa said.
