Midway through the 185-pound match, Euless Trinity coach Travis Clark looked at Jaidin Perkawsky-Green and delivered some motivation.
“Do you want another one of these?” He said pointing to a championship ring on his right hand. “All you have to do is not lose.”
Trailing at the time, Perkawsky-Green used it as motivation.
She rallied to win and that helped Trinity win 48-24 to beat Southlake Carroll in the Class 6A Texas High School Wrestling Coaches Association State Duals on Saturday at NYTEX Sports Centre in North Richland Hills.
Perkawsky-Green overcame a deficit in the third period to get a pin at the 5:05 mark over Simaima Taholo — the fifth out of six wins in a row that broke a 6-6 tie.
Taholo beat Perkawsky-Green in a previous matchup this season and held a lead 9-2 lead after the second period. In the third, Perkawsky-Green pulled within two before getting a pin in 54 seconds to go and down 9-4.
“It is the most joy I’ve felt in a long time,” she said “I was really frustrated. I swear she thought she would get the win and I wasn’t going to let her. My motivation was coach saying it is ‘OK if you lose, don’t get pinned.’ I was like ‘no, I’m pinning her, I’m going to get my win back.’”