The Summer of Sis

Photos courtesy of Tony Rotundo; WrestlersAreWarriors.com

As the final seconds ticked off the clock in the girls Junior National freestyle finals in Fargo, North Dakota, Sarissa Tucker felt a combination of joy and relief. The normally subdued Tucker let out a couple of screams and, after shaking hands, proceeded to hit a running gymnastics series that ended with a flip.

For the wrestler affectionately known as “Sis” to the wrestling community, it was a moment she pictured herself in since eighth grade. It was in sixth grade where Tucker tried middle school wrestling for the first time. She participated in a variety of sports but was drawn to wrestling because, “it was more like a combat sport.” At one point, Tucker was interested in lacrosse and the physicality of the sport for boys. She found that girls lacrosse was less so and “you could get called for a foul for anything. It wasn’t fun, I wanted to be aggressive.”

About a year after finding a home on the wrestling mat, Tucker’s father, Marc, started taking her to big national level tournaments in Iowa and Tulsa. That exposure to high-level competition helped Tucker learn “there’s levels to this.”

Tucker quickly adapted and started making an impact on the national stage. In the summer that followed her freshman year at Mountain View High School, Tucker went to Fargo and took third in the 16U tournament. A couple of months later, she was fifth at the Super 32.

In the months and years that followed, the wins and impressive accolades mounted, and Tucker elevated herself into one of the most decorated high school girls in Virginia wrestling history.

Despite the two state titles, All-American finishes, and national rankings, a Fargo title seemed like it might be far-fetched in December of 2025. That was when Tucker was controversially disqualified from the Ironman and then stepped away from the sport. She needed time to clear her head as she “wasn’t happy with the sport and wasn’t having fun.”

After her break, Tucker returned to the room and started having fun again. She calls it a “much needed break.”

Fast forward to April, in Tucker’s first tournament since her break, she pinned Jacyln Bouzakis (a fellow Fargo champion) and Christina Estrada (someone who had beaten her in the past) to make the finals of the U20 World Team Trials. At the time, the pair was ranked #1 and #2 in the nation.

Unfortunately, Tucker was beaten in the best-of-three series by Morgan Turner to make the world team. Turner also ended up making the U23 and Senior World Team so she in #1 on the women’s domestic ladder at 50 kg. Once again, the loss to Turner showed Tucker “there’s levels to this,” giving her parts of her game to work on, going forward.

While the winner of the U20 world team finals gets to compete at the World Championships, the runner-up has the option of representing the United States at the U20 Pan-American Championships. With that, Tucker took her first international trip and traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Tucker cherished the experience of competing alongside a team full of girls that “have the same goals and the same drive as her.” On the mat, Tucker went out and took care of business and captured a gold medal. Because of the way the brackets fell in the round robin system, Tucker had to defeat Guatemala’s Kayla Batres twice. Batres goes to high school in Connecticut and had two career wins over Tucker before the tournament.

So, during her first international trip, was Tucker able to enjoy Brazilian culture? Not really, but she did attend a Brazilian McDonald’s. They had some traditional items on the menu, but overall, she preferred the American version.

Part of the reason why Tucker wasn’t able to see more of Brazil and turn her tournament into an extended vacation, was an incredibly tight turnaround from the U20 Pan-Am’s to Fargo. Tucker was home for all of one day before leaving for Fargo. There weren’t any thoughts of skipping Fargo after the big wins in Brazil - Tucker felt, “the job wasn’t done.”

In Fargo, Tucker generally cruised through her first four matches in the 110 lb bracket, barley getting pushed past the first minute in only two of those contests. The semifinals presented Tucker with her first challenge of the tournament against Missouri’s Jayden Keller, a graduated senior who has signed with William Jewell.

After a tactical first period, Tucker found herself down 1-0 at the break. In the corner, she was reassured by Virginia

State Chairman Steve Steigler. Tucker likes his way of speaking in short phrases like, “You’re fine here” and “Just get to your stuff.” For her, “less is more in these situations.” Her father was in the corner, as well, but Tucker has asked him not to talk during matches. It is a sign of maturity on both ends as the father/daughter tandem has found what works best for her.

Normally, a wrestler might feel stressed from being down after a period, but this time she felt, “So calm and not nervous. I was in the right place and knew it would be fine.”

The second period was the opposite of the first as Tucker was extremely aggressive and forced the action. She had multiple scoring holds and Keller was able to expose her a couple of times during an action-packed sequence. That flurry culminated as Tucker saw an opening and hit a dump to Keller’s back and figured, “I’m just going to stick her here.” She was able to do so and got the fall to move onto the Fargo finals.

As is the case when a Virginia wrestler makes the finals, Team Virginia is always one of the most vocal states. Before the finals, during the walk of champions, Tucker was looking for her teammates and initially didn’t see them. After a few moments she heard noise from the top sections in the FargoDome and it was her supporters with handmade “We Love Sis” decorated signs. She really appreciated the gesture while mentally prepping for the finals.

Tucker’s finals opponent was another graduated senior, Indiana’s Isabel Kaplan, who has signed with Indiana Tech. Kaplan was reluctant to open up in the first period and Tucker held a 2-0 advantage on the strength of a step-out point and a shot clock violation.

Holding a two-point lead with about a minute left in the match, Tucker was left with a decision. Play defense and try to hang on for the win or go out and grab the title. Tucker chose the latter.

Before the match, Tucker was aware that Kaplan’s best attacks came from a two-on-one tie. Tucker’s hand fighting and pace never let Kaplan get into that position and she felt it was frustrating Kaplan. Without much of an offensive threat from Kaplan and sensing she was wearing down, Tucker shot a low double and finished for a takedown and a 4-0 lead. That takedown ended up clinching it for Tucker, who went on to win by that score.

Now the reason that relief was an initial feeling for Tucker after the win, was because of all of the times at national tournaments that she had come close and had high finishes, but no title. “It was a long time coming. I’ve seen myself there so many times and I was almost there so many times. Finally, being able to break through was such a great feeling.”

This big spring and summer full of first’s don’t seem to faze Tucker. “I feel like they are just another thing in the books and more experience.” Tucker is excited about her senior year, as she is back at Mountain View. Like many other seniors, she has mixed feelings about all of the “last” competitions that she’ll experience during her final year of high school, but is also excited about them.

Judging by the amount of publicity that Tucker has recently garnered on FloWrestling’s social media, it appears that Tucker’s performance this offseason has opened eyes nationally and confirmed to a larger audience what we already knew in Virginia - Sis is a star and one of the best in the nation. Bar none. Pound-for-pound.