Centennial wrestlers Jenavi Alejandro, Juliana Alejandro, and Bella Mir pose following a wrestling match against Las Vegas High at Centennial High School Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022.
Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022 | 2 a.m.
They spent many evenings in the wrestling room watching their older brother practice. Dad was one of the coaches.
One day, the Alejandro sisters decided to stop being observers. They’d take up the family tradition.
“I remember asking my dad when it would be my turn to wrestle,” said Juliana Alejandro, a Centennial High School junior. “You could tell how happy he was. He said ‘yes’ right away.”
Alejandro, her older sister, senior Jenavi Alejandro, and Centennial teammate Bella Mir are part of a growing trend in youth wrestling. Girls are taking up the male-dominated sport and finding successes, both in winning matches — often against the boys — and in gaining self-confidence.
Next week, about 200 girls from throughout Nevada will participate in the first all-girl Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association state meet at Slam Academy.
Getting a chance to represent their school at a state-sanctioned event isn’t lost on the athletes from Centennial, all of whom are nationally ranked and expected to contend for an individual championship.
A state championship comes with a ring and their name painted on the wall of champions in the school wrestling room. There’s also another prize not lost on the teenagers: Being a trend-setter and paving the way for other girls to be introduced to the sport.
The girls “are the leaders of our team. Nobody works as hard as they do and nobody has the amount of respect,” Centennial coach Don McGregor said.
All of the other weight classes at Centennial are occupied by boys. The Centennial girls split the season competing in girls specific meets, and select league matches against boys.
Mir has been dominating the local circuit since middle school, when as an eighth-grader she won the state championship at the all-girls high school meet. It was then a club event and not sanctioned.
She won a national championship last spring, is two-time high school All-American and is 18-0 on the season in dual meet matches against girls.
Combat sports are also a way of life for the Mir family. Father, Frank Mir, is a two-time UFC heavyweight champion and former prep state champion at Bonanza. Bella proudly details her father’s greatest achievements — like when he became the first to submit Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira — and says she couldn’t help taking up the family tradition.
“I love the lifestyle and being in the gym,” said Bella Mir, a senior who competes at 144 pounds. “I am getting to live my dream of working out every day and competing.”
Jenavi Alejandro as a freshman in 2019 became the first girl to win a match at the boys state tournament, McGregor said. It’s the same tournament her brother, Matthew, won in 2015 with Arbor View. Dad, Jason, was a prep wrestling standout at the powerhouse Eldorado, where he was mentored by wrestling coaching icon Jimmy May.
Jenavi Alejandro has won two girls state championships, was a runner-up at the national meet last spring, and has earned multiple high school all-American accolades. The family would love nothing more than to add two more state titles to their name.
“I have the best practice partner in my sister,” said Jenavi Alejandro, who eclipsed 100 career high school wins early this season, a rarity for prep wrestling. “It helps that I can count on her to be by my side.”
McGregor said having a team of mixed girls and boys has provided little conflict, and he raves about how the dynamic is helping all of the athletes prepare for life after wrestling. Coaches are determined to help everyone on the team become the best versions of themselves, both as competitors and citizens, he said.
The ultimate goal is to have a Centennial Bulldog standing in the circle of the mat with his or her hand being raised on match day.
“They are treated just like everyone else,” sophomore Nicholas Egbalic said. “It’s cool because we are growing together and experiencing the same things together.”
Juliana Alejandro, who has a 12-1 record in girl matches, could be considered a little shy. But when she’s wrestling, regardless whether it’s against a boy or girl, she becomes aggressive and has a certain level of confidence that she’s the best competitor.
“Beating the boys has definitely raised my confidence,” she said.
At Centennial’s final home meet last week, all three girls picked up victories in their matches against Las Vegas High School. Mir, like she has done so many times before, won by a first-period pin.
“I feel bad for the boys,” Mir said, explaining the Catch-22 the boys face. “If you win, you look bad because you beat up on a girl. But if you lose, it sucks because you got beat by a girl.”
