After serving as manager for the girls wrestling team and watching older sister Sarah compete last year, Marist sophomore Abby Parker decided it was time to leave the sidelines and hit the mats.
There was just one big issue. Earlier this winter, Parker weighed 290, well above the 235-pound limit to compete in the heavyweight class. So, Parker went to work on slimming down in a hurry.
“I spent from the end of December until probably Thursday working to drop the weight to get to 235,” Parker said. “It was intense. I did workouts with my team. I did home workouts.
“It was a lot of meal-prepping and keeping a clean diet and saying no, of course, to all the treats my friends would bring along. It was a really tough season, but I was really proud to even get to this spot of being able to wrestle.”
Parker made weight just in time for the postseason and earned the chance Saturday to participate in her first high school wrestling competition.
All she did was win it, taking home the 235-pound title at the Rich Township Regional in Richton Park. Her sister Sarah, a junior, also won the championship at 170 for the RedHawks.
The sisters became the first regional champions in program history for Marist.
Andrew co-op, which includes wrestlers from Sandburg and Stagg, won the team title with 245 points behind seven champions — Jade Hardee (100), Tatum De La Vega (105), Sophia Figueroa (115), Saja Bader (120), Alyssa Keane (135), Nola Oben (155) and Emma Akpan (190).
“I’m super excited,” Keane said. “All these girls work so hard in the room. We take what we learn out on the mats and we’re always on top.”
Other champions included Oak Forest’s Brooklyn Strelow (125) and Iyobosa Odiase (145), Ag Science’s Carmen Jackson (110), Thornton’s Jalah Wilson (130) and Hillcrest’s Christiara Finley (140).
Abby Parker, meanwhile, capped her stunningly successful debut in mind-blowing fashion. In the second period of the finals, she trailed Shepard’s Karrine Jenkins 11-4 before producing a pin.
“It was shocking,” Abby said.
Maybe to everyone except Marist coach Kelly Sullivan.
“These Parker girls don’t know how to quit,” Sullivan said. “I’ve never been more impressed with the way those girls can be down and fight back. I’ve seen Sarah down by 14 and come back to win the match.
“They don’t have any quit in them. They’re a force to be reckoned with.”
Sarah Parker beat Ag Science’s Elena Haugh by an 11-1 major decision in the finals. But she was even more hyped up about her sister.
“It was the best thing ever to experience this with Abby,” Sarah said. “I felt more nervous for her matches than my own. I watched her come as far as she did. It was the best feeling in the world.”
Abby said her and Sarah have always been very close.
“We are like Batman and Robin but I like to call us both Batman,” Abby said. “She’s my best friend.
“It was so exciting to see her win and then I went out there, I was about to get pinned and I said, ‘I’m not going to let Sarah be the only Parker who takes first place today. It’s not happening.’”
Abby confirmed that she was still about 10 pounds over the limit at the start of the week.
“My friend Izzy brought lemon bars to practice one day and I was like, ‘You’re trying to kill me,’” Abby said. “I bundled up with my sweatshirts and sweatpants. It was a lot of sweat.”
By the time Saturday was over, that sweat sure felt sweet.
“I went into today thinking, ‘I want to take first,’” Abby said. “Did I think I was going to take first? I wasn’t sure. But I said, ‘I’m going to go out there and try to kick as much butt as I can.’”
