At Home on The Mat: Meet La Porte High School Varsity Wrestler Mara Eason

At Home on The Mat: Meet La Porte High School Varsity Wrestler Mara Eason

“I fell in love.”Love is a powerful emotion. It can motivate us to step outside our comfort zone, take risks, and do whatever it takes to keep whatever we love with us. So when La Porte High School (LPHS) Senior, Mara Eason, fell in love with wrestling, a wrestler is what she became.

Eason, who wrestles Varsity for the Slicers, first fell in love with the predominately male sport six years ago after watching her brother, enticed by the excitement of the all-or-nothing aspects the sport provides.

“I love that feeling you get when you win,” Eason told IIMM. “The feeling of knowing you put in the work and then that win being completely yours when you do.”

But before Mara could ever experience that feeling of conquering opponents on the mat, she had to overcome the fears that naturally come along with taking on a new challenge, and the unknowns that existed of being one of the only girls in a “guy’s game.”

“I was excited and nervous when I first started,” Eason explained. “I was worried I wouldn’t do well and I think the coaches were worried I might be a distraction.”

But it was too late to stop, Eason was in love with the sport and she wasn’t going to let her fears and doubts keep her from pursuing her passion.

Instead, Eason went to work. Matching every effort her teammates put in at the gym, and meeting every demand her coaches challenged her with. Much like the sport of wrestling itself, Eason worked hard for every single recognition, every little metaphorical point she could to prove she belonged.

And little by little, pin by pin, the opinions changed, her worries were erased, and people began to recognize Mara not as “the girl who wrestles,” but as Mara Eason, “The Wrestler.”

“Everyone saw that I put in the work, just like they did,” said Eason. “The coaches began to see that, and see that I’m a wrestler. I became an equal not an outsider.”

And now, in her final season at La Porte, Eason said she is thankful for the coaches and teammates who have grown with her over the years and helped turn a love of wrestling into a life of wrestling.

“We are all a family now.”