Seventeen-year-old Concord High School senior Madison Beauregard made history in February as the first girl to win four consecutive state championship titles in wrestling. She clinched the title in a dominating 9 to 0 victory over a wrestler from Alvirne High School.
Beauregard joined NHPR’s All Things Considered host Julia Furukawa to talk about her journey in the sport and what keeps her motivated.
Transcript
What was that moment like for you when you realized that you had essentially made history?
It kind of felt the same as like, [when] I won everything else. It was kind of like ‘Oh, I won.’
Is that usually your reaction? You're kind of reserved, like, oh, well, there we go?
Yeah.
What were other people's reactions then, though? I mean, this is a pretty big deal.
My team wanted me to do a celebration, like do a cartwheel or do a flip or something. Not doing that. And then the entire crowd was just like, screaming and super excited.
Had you had anything like that before?
Not really.
Wrestling is a popular sport at Concord High. The team's got about 50 people on it, but you are the only girl on the team. What's it like for you training and competing in a space that's pretty much all guys?
It definitely pushes me a lot more because there's no other females, so it's like whatever the guys are doing, I have to be able to do the same.
Do you find that that's helpful or do you sometimes get in your head a little bit about it?
It's definitely helpful, and it's definitely made me push myself a lot more than if I was in a room of all girls, which that's not bad, but it's also like I probably wouldn't have pushed myself as hard because I had to prove that I was just as good as them.
Do you feel like that's translated into other parts of your life, that same motivation?
Definitely. I push myself a lot harder in school, too, just to stay at the top or like passing all my classes with higher grades than just barely scraping by.
And what's your relationship like with your teammates?
It's definitely like big brothers and little brothers. I don't see them as just normal people. Like they're all my family. They're all my siblings.
And what about your coaches? What's your relationship like with them?
My coaches, I have a very good relationship with them. They know when I am like, ‘I can't go any farther,’ but they push me as much as they can. They're like, ‘I know you can keep going. Keep going.’
Does that ever get old? Do you ever get tired of that?
Yes, every single day.
You started wrestling back in the sixth grade. You're a senior now. Now that you’ve found such success in the sport, what advice would you give to your younger self when you just started out?
Keep going. Don't give up. The conditioning is super hard. Just keep going. I remember there was one time in sixth grade I was like, I don't want to do this anymore. I could just stop, like it doesn't actually matter. I could just stop. There's nothing stopping me. But I just [kept] going. Just keep pushing through the pain.
What's your strategy for that now if you find yourself in a place where you're just not feeling motivated?
When we're doing hard sprints and I'm like, I'm dead, I don't want to keep going. I just keep telling myself, ‘Just beat him. Just go faster than him. Just keep going till he's tired. He's tired first. He has to give up first.’
Since you are on this team where you are the only girl, what would you say to other girls who want to get into the sport of wrestling?
Do it. It's going to change you. It's going to make you so much more mentally and physically tough. And it's definitely a commitment, and it's going to be something you're going to have to work really hard to get. But do it.
Do you hope to continue wrestling after high school?
Yes, I do. I hope to wrestle in college. There's a couple colleges that have reached out and I might commit to one eventually, but I don't know right now.
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