Just over a year ago, Lawton High School junior Brielle Williams was on the mat battling for an OSSAA State Championship, but unfortunately the young Wolverine wrestler came up short, falling in the semi-finals. Fast-forward about 365 days and Williams was celebrating the win with her coaches, family, and teammates as the first female wrestler from Lawton Public Schools to win a State Championship in wrestling. She had done it, after a year of training and working on improving her skills, Williams was a State Champion and she couldn’t have been happier.
“I was watching the time go, and I was like, okay, five seconds, and I looked up and there was two seconds, and [my opponent] had stood up and I took a big deep breath,” said Williams when asked about her thoughts in the final seconds of her championship match. “I was like, okay, next period, I’m ready to get my choice. Then [my coaches] were like, no, you won, and I started bawling. It was just such a relief going through me and it was electric with our student section so it was really nice.”
Williams controlled the pace the whole match. Keeping her opponent, Malia Tini from Westmore High School, where she wanted her as she earned the 2-0 victory. The two points coming on escapes, the first was after her opponent’s choice and the second on a strategic call by Williams and her coaching staff to do it again. As the seconds counted down, Williams thought there would be another round, but as Miri stood up and started to walk away, she realized that she had won a State Championship.
“I just had to go hug my coach,” said Williams about her initial reaction to realizing she had won. “I knew I was crying. I didn’t want everyone to see me cry at first. I just needed to go find my coach. I couldn’t stop myself from jumping and… it just felt like I was floating for a while.”
A standout softball player, Williams was not always a star wrestler. She started in eighth grade by chance when she was at Westmore after a friend asked her if she wanted free pizza. The free pizza was in the wrestling room and an interest sparked, an interest that has grown into a strong high school career on the mat, with still a year left to make even more history.
From the moment Williams stepped off the diamond in the fall, both herself and coach Jeff Elbert knew it was going to be a special season, with a State Championship being the ultimate goal.
“When I started this year, I just came into [the wrestling] room knowing something was going to be different,” said Williams. “I just was so determined to work harder than I had the years before to make something happen this year.”
“The main thoughts going through my mind was that I had put so much work in to be at this point that I was going to let that show, not over stress.” added Williams. “I just kept my feet moving, my mind working, trying not to overwhelm myself. I was saying in my head a lot, "Don't wait to be great, this is your moment.””
Williams earned her spot in the final by earning a one seed in her bracket after winning at Regionals. She then scored a pair of pinfalls in both the quarterfinal and semifinal matches. With a 24-1 record at the end of the year, she has etched herself in Wolverine history as the first female to win a state title in wrestling, not only for LHS but for the school district as a whole. When asked what that meant to her, Williams talked about all the work her and her teammates put in on the mats in “The Den”.
“It makes me feel so good,” said Williams. “It’s nice to be in a room like this that puts a lot of work in, and I put a lot of work in, and to have someone come out the other side as a State Champion, I think it means a lot for everybody in here… to show people that you can do it, no matter where you’re from.”
Williams was not the only Wolverine to make waves at the State Championships. Head coach Jeff Elbert and his assistant Tim Francisco took seven athletes to the meet, four females and three males. Williams was joined by seniors Teyanna Fields and Nevaeh Reyes and sophomore Jaleah Stanton as the only females to represent LPS at this year’s competition in OKC, and were accompanied by their male teammates, seniors Azaan Shannon and Adrain Villarreal and sophomore Damien Watson. The group had plenty of support from LHS as they were sent off in style by fellow classmates, faculty, and staff as they bus departed for the OKC Fairgrounds. Williams, who had a huge cheering section for her final match, mentioned Wolverine Nation as a big part of her journey to the championship.
“I think community is a really big thing in the sport, even though it’s an individual competition,” said Williams of her support system. “Just to have somebody who is always with you and pushing you will make you a better athlete… It is a lot of your mental that goes into this. It’s not just the work, you have to be able to control your emotions, and to have people around you to help support, that is a great thing.”
In the end, Lawton High brought home three medals, with Williams earning first place and best overall wrestler for 6A girls and Reyes placing third. Reyes ended up being named to the 6A All-State team while she, Fields, Williams, and Elbert will represent the Wolverines on the Oklahoma Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star team and will get the chance to compete at the 52nd Annual Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic on March 28.
It takes a village to create a State Championship and Williams credits her village, especially her coaches, Reyes, Fields, and her dad, Lorenzo Williams, for helping her reach her goals of bringing back a title to the “Home of Champions.”
“I would like to thank my coaches. I’d like to thank Nevaeh and T and all the other girls who are in this room and my wrestling partners… I would also like to thank my dad, who really helped me with my mental.”