Symone Jewell is a typical teenager in most ways. A freshman at Northgate, she likes hanging out with her friends and has played lots of sports. A lot of sports. She has done swim team, dance, played basketball, soccer and flag football. She also considered adding softball to her sports resume. And if that wasn’t enough, last spring she considered another sport. Wrestling.
As an eighth grader, Symone loved going to her older brother Tyler’s Northgate wrestling meets. At one such meet, Tyler and Symone were playing around when Symone threw down a legit wrestling move on her big brother, taking him down in front of everyone. Northgate wrestling coaches Tom Booth and Tim Sanchez joked that she needed to give wrestling a try. And as the quote from R.S. Grey goes, “she believed she could, so she did.”
Having never wrestled before and after attending only three practices “for fun,” Symone decided to try her luck at a tournament three weeks later where she competed for the very first time. And wouldn’t you know it? She won. Few could have predicted the success she would ultimately have this year except, of course, for big brother Tyler. Before the start of the wrestling season at Northgate, Tyler changed her name in his phone to NCS CHAMP. He one hundred percent believed in her and her ability. So did coaches Booth and Sanchez. In a predominantly male sport, both Booth and Sanchez described Symone as tough and fearless and had no worries about her ability to hold her own.
Before the season could begin, however, Symone had a big decision to make: her favorite sport – basketball – conflicted with wrestling as both are winter sports at Northgate. Symone and her dad share a bond with basketball as he had been her longtime coach and mentor after having had a successful professional career himself. She loved her time with him and sharing the game with him and wasn’t sure she wanted to drop that. It was only when Tyler began talking about how much fun it would be for them to share the sport together that Symone began seriously considering it. Symone is quick to point out decision. She strongly and proudly states that she has been blessed with parents that have always encouraged her to follow her heart and have supported her in any and all choices she has made. Because of that support, Symone decided to suspend basketball for this year and try wrestling. When all was said and done, Symone called it one of the best experiences of her life being able to share the season with him. The season actually ended up being a family affair. Symone’s big sister Jordan is a senior in the sports med program at Northgate and, as a result, all three of the Jewell kids were at the wrestling meets.
The success Symone had in a sport that she had never tried before is otherworldly. Her overall record was 31-11, and she placed in every single tournament she competed in. That success led to many awards. League champion. NCS champion. Made and placed at the state tournament. Her 6th place finish at state is the highest of any Northgate wrestler since 1982. Did I mention she is just a freshman? That’s right, in a brand-new sport, Symone Jewell won league, NCS and placed 6th in the state. As a freshman.
While Symone’s wrestling future is certainly bright – she definitely has visions of wrestling in college – she steadfastly refuses to take any of the credit. Humble, kind, and wise beyond her 15 years, Symone credits her family and coaches for all of her success. Each of them in their own way, whether it’s her dad for mentally preparing her for each match, her mom for being her biggest supporter, coaches Booth and Sanchez for always making decisions in her best interests – not theirs or anyone else’s – brother Tyler for being her teammate and biggest cheerleader, and sister Jordan for physically getting her ready for matches by taping her up, she understands that whatever success she had is because of them. She is quick to point out that this “squad” is the reason why she took on a predominantly male sport that she had never played before and carved out her own place in Northgate wrestling history. And with that kind of support, there is no telling how far Symone can go and what other records she can break. Perhaps Coach Tim Sanchez said it best: “Symone is limited by nothing – the sky is the limit for her.”
By Shannon Polkinghorn, Resident since 2004