Mosley wrestler Valarie Solorio hopes to overcome injury in return to Fargo nationals

Valarie Solorio's victory in last year's Women's 16U Nationals in Fargo, N.D., represented a momentous achievement in the young wrestler's career. 

For the rising Mosley High School junior, it was surprising, exhilarating, and deeply satisfying. It was not, she was quick to point out, not especially fun. 

"I don't even think I could say it was fun. It wasn't fun until after I had won," Solorio said. "Going there was so surreal. It's a tournament I dreamed of going to all through my childhood and middle school years ... but I was petrified.

"I remember I cried the night before the finals and was like, 'I'm about to go up on the stage and embarrass myself and everyone will see it.' Once I finally got out there it was like I knew I had to wrestle, but it was still terrifying. After I won, though, nobody could rain on my parade for like the next few weeks." 

Solorio, who has won two state wrestling titles in her two years as a varsity wrestler, called her Fargo win the proudest accomplishment of her young career. 

She'll get the chance to add another title to her growing resume next week when she returns to Fargo for the 16U Nationals, which begin July 16. However, Solorio will have to do so while recovering from two broken fingers she suffered during a practice three weeks ago. 

Bay County Girls Wrestler of the Year:Solorio made history with dominant state run

History-making wins:Solorio, Haynes revel in history-making wins in Kissimmee

State titles:Solorio, Haynes both win state titles for Mosley

On the bright side, she has plenty of experience wrestling in big matches while being physically compromised. In fact, she has precious little experience wrestling at full health. 

"I've never gone into a tournament fully 100 percent, so it's definitely something I'm used to," Solorio said. "But it's a really scary process, I'm not gonna lie. I'm very nervous about it, but at the end of the day it's wrestling and I'm not gonna forget how to wrestle while I'm injured. I can just train and do whatever I can do now and drill and adjust my training to hopefully do well when I get there. I just want to do my best and hopefully land up on the podium." 

The injury prevented Solorio from competing in the U17 Pan-American Championships in Argentina, though she did get to go to the USA Wrestling Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., in preparation for the event, an experience that she described as "like a dream come true."

Solorio got to train on the same mats that so many U.S. Olympians have trained on before, and she even got to see a few of them while she was there, including 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock as well as 2020 bronze medalist Sarah Hildebrandt. 

She also got to meet one of her personal heroes in 2008 Olympic gold medalist and former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo, who gave Solorio some advice about competing through injuries from his own experience in MMA. 

"He was talking to me at the training center and he asked about my hand," she said. "He said 'I tore my shoulder out mid-fight and still came back and won.' He said it was a minor setback, that this should be the best time in your life. You have time to dissect matches, work on different parts of your body, and set goals for yourself. Everything he said made sense to me, it just clicked. 

"He's such an inpsiration to me. He's also Mexican-American and has represented Mexico as well as America and he's someone I really look up to a lot. He's also so small like me, but he has a huge heart. Talking to him was like talking to a god, to be honest. Everything I could possibly imagine doing he's already done. Every goal I've ever set for myself he's already accomplished. Being in the same room and taking advice from him was probably the best part of my whole experience at camp." 

While Solorio may draw inspiration from her meeting with Cejudo, her quest to repeat at Fargo will still be quite a challenge given that the competition will commence exactly seven days after she's scheduled to have the cast removed from her left hand. 

Solorio said she still hopes to win the tournament, though her injury and the limits it has put on her preparation has tempered her expectations. 

"I think my injury does affect my expecations a lot," she said. "The goal essentially is to go back and place. I want to make the finals and be on that stage again and win it all, but that's just dreaming. I'll just go and take it one match at a time and see what I can do."