The fact that there’s a 16-year-old heading to wrestle in a national tournament is big news in and of itself. The fact that she is a girl makes it even more of an intriguing story.
Caravel Academy rising junior Natalie Radecki will compete at the U.S. Marine Corps Nationals in Fargo, North Dakota, from July 12 to 14. It’s another step in a wrestling “career” that began when she was 5 years old after watching her older brother grapple for several years.
“I just saw my brother Eddie out on the mat and I’d always have to come to practice and hang around and I just really wanted to be on the mat,” recalled Radecki, whose brother is a four-time state champion at Caravel entering his senior year. “So my parents signed me up, and I just kept with it.”
Staying committed to the sport of wrestling is a feat in and of itself given the grueling workouts and the need for exceptional self-discipline. But the fact that Radecki spent the first several years in the sport only wrestling against boys made that commitment even more impressive.
“Everything was boys,” Radecki emphasized. “When I wrestled in my first girls tournament when I was probably 9 years old, that was like crazy to me. I was like, oh my god I’m wrestling girls. It was crazy.”
Radecki doesn’t recall her parents ever worrying about her wrestling against boys.
“I don’t think they really cared,” she said. “They were just letting me do what I wanted to do, which was go out there and wrestle the guys. I didn’t care if I got beat up a little bit. I saw it happen to everyone else, so why would it be any different for me.”
Radecki’s memory recall was correct.
“Natalie is super competitive at everything she does, so it was absolutely no surprise to me [that she wanted to wrestle],” her mother, Caron, said. “We are excited for all the opportunities she has, and Eddie is definitely a key factor in Natalie wrestling. They are always in each other’s corner, both on and off the mat.”
On the mat as a youngster, Radecki won several tournaments where she was the only girl. When she finally did get to regularly compete against girls in tournaments, her winning ways continued, including as a freshman at the nationally recognized Beast of the East here in Newark. There, she won the 100-pound weight class in 2022 and finished second in 2023, losing to a U17 world bronze medalist who was named the tournament’s outstanding wrestler.
Radecki has wrestled for Caravel Academy since her freshman year in the 106-pound weight class and has recorded almost 50 wins competing exclusively against boys. In this year’s season-ending girls freestyle state tournament, Radecki, who weighed less than 100 pounds at the time, defeated an opponent in the 135-pound weight class to win. It helped that wrestling outside of her weight class was nothing new to her.
“I sometimes bump around weight classes in other tournaments to try and get better competition, so this wasn’t new to me,” she explained.
This will be Radecki’s first time competing in the U.S. Marine Corp Nationals.
“I haven’t been out there before,” Radecki said with a hint of excitement in her voice. “Last year, I was still young and small for the 94-pound weight class. I think that this year I’ve really stepped up and am doing a lot better at national events and I think this year it seemed like a good year that I should be able to go out there and prove myself. I’m looking forward to getting those big matches and trying to come out on top. There are definitely going to be girls I’ve had really close matches against, win or lose, and so I’m just going to go out there and do my best.”
Win or lose, Radecki will fly from North Dakota to Colorado Springs to take part in a U17 national team training from July 21 to 27. She is currently listed as the second alternate for the team that will compete at the Pan Am Games.
“I want to get on the World Team and go and wrestle at [the Pan Am Games] so I’d love to do that next year,” Radecki said, looking ahead. “I was so close this year and I think that I do have the abilities to do that next year.”
Radecki, who also runs cross-country at Caravel and said she likes that sport because, like wrestling, it’s more of an individual sport, is very to be able to help her U17 teammates prepare for the world competition.
“They’re letting me come along [to the training] and help those girls prepare for the Pan Am Games,” she said. “And who knows, maybe one of them will decline it or not make weight and I’ll end up going.”
If she does end up fulfilling her dream this year, she said that would immediately become the biggest tournament she’s ever competed in. But for now, her focus is on North Dakota where she readily admitted a win would “definitely” be the biggest of her career.
Win or lose, Radecki considers all these national opportunities as another chance to better her skills and get her closer to reaching her ultimate goal as a wrestler.
“I want to try to become one of the best in the world and make history in Delaware by placing at boys’ states and to be that first girl to make that step,” she said.
In my opinion only …
With a team-record seven Phillies in the MLB All-Star Game, it becomes must-see TV for fans. It’s just a bonus that it’s the one professional all-star game where the players give 100% and so it’s like a real baseball game.
Wrapping it up
Perhaps the biggest changes in the history of the DIAA are now official as the Delaware Legislature passed portions of bills that will decrease the DIAA board size from 22 to 15 (plus two non-voting members), double its staff size from three to six and create stricter transfer rules.
Student-athletes can still transfer once without penalty up until the start of their junior year. But if their first transfer is after that, now they will have to sit out 30 days from the date of the team’s first official game. If a second or third transfer is made at any time during their four-year high school career, the student-athlete is ineligible to play in the state tournament that season.
Student-athletes can still apply for a waiver to transfer. However, if it is determined by the executive director that the move is primarily for athletic purposes, the student-athlete will be ineligible. And let’s be honest, most transfer waivers that have been submitted and approved in the past several years have been for just that.
Until next time … have a great sports week!
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