“The coach was just like, ‘She’s a girl. You’ll win.’ And I was like ‘Ah!’ So then I had to win,” Nyah Colon said of one of her first tournaments playing against the boys.

It wasn’t the first time the high school senior was underestimated. From her stature to her gender, wrestling was not the first sport most people expected her to play. But this Tottenville Pirate is more than happy to prove them wrong.

What You Need To Know

  • Nyah Colon was involved in martial arts from a young age and started wrestling in middle school before joining the boys’ team in high school

  • The Tottenville senior is proud that the number of girls in wrestling has grown because of her and two others

  • Colon helped found the student organization Respect for All in hopes of raising awareness for other cultures and mutual respect for all

“I kind of felt like I have something more to prove, especially being on the boys team for the majority of my time at high school,” said Colon.

Colon began taking down the competition at a young age first in martial arts and then she joined the middle school wrestling team.

Colon and two other girls joined the boy’s wrestling team their freshman year, because there was no girl’s squad. She was instantly placed on varsity and proved herself at the city tournament.

“It was just a really fun experience to be able to see like this entire big bracket of boys’ names and then you just see my name and I was like ‘Yeah, I’m there!” And I was placed second seed. So people predicted that I would place second, and I did,” Colon said.

“I remember just trying not to cry out of sheer happiness because I was like, ‘I actually did it. That’s crazy.’”

Despite two top ten finishes in the city tournament, the path hasn’t been easy.

“It was kind of like, I have to give 110%, whereas these boys only have to give 80% at most," said Colon.

But the payoff is worth it.

“I do think that me and the two other girls that joined my freshman year, I really do think we made a lasting impact on the team because if it wasn’t for us, if it wasn’t for the influx of girls we created from our influence, we wouldn’t have a girl’s season now,” said Colon.

Colon isn’t only pushing for change on the mat. In between multiple advanced placement courses, she helped start Respect For All, a school club hoping to reduce hate for all minority groups.

“I just really wanted to bring light to some cultures that aren’t represented in our school or even a lot in the world,” said Colon.

She plans to study chemical engineering next fall with hopes of one day entering the cosmetic industry and continuing to break down stereotypes along the way.

“I always wanted to force myself to get out of my comfort zone. Force myself to kind of change the narrative of some of these things because if no one else is going to do it, someone has to do it. Someone has to take that leading step,” she said.