Sylvie Paillard
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It's hard to believe, but beneath Andrea Cordero-Sapién's diminutive exterior lurks one tough athlete.
Despite breaking her nose more than 30 times, broken ribs, torn muscles, a hyper-extended and dislocated elbow, causing tendonitis, wrestler Cordero-Sapién has reached the top of her class in B.C. The 17 year-old recently won the B.C. Secondary Schools female wrestling provincial title in the heaviest weight class. The province's secondary school coaches also decided that the athlete should receive the Art E. Miller award for the year's Outstanding Female Wrestler in B.C.
"I feel great," said Cordero-Sapién. "I worked very hard and although it took a while it most definitely paid off."
Cordero-Sapién went into the B.C. Secondary Schools competition expecting to win gold in a group of 22 "worthy opponents," she said. B.C. wrestling coaches, officials and directors decided all the seedings according to previous competition results and since Cordero-Sapién had an undefeated season, she was given first seeding.
"Some people see seeding as an advantage," she said. "I personally would have rather not been seeded and been the underdog for the competition, just because there is less pressure that way."
But the pressure wasn't enough to faze the young athlete. There was a total of only four points scored against her during the entire tournament and none scored against in the final.
Cordero-Sapién lives in Squamish and trains four days a week at her North Vancouver high school, St. Thomas Aquinas, with coach Joe Galat. She also turns heads training three days a week with the Burnaby Mountain Wrestling Club at Simon Fraser University (SFU), and has been offered a full wrestling scholarship once she graduates.
Despite the potential for injury and pain, Cordero-Sapién's parents fully support her in her pursuits.
"Both of my parents are very supportive, but my mom in particular is always there to support me with my wrestling," she said. "She is there through the good and the bad. She is awesome to me; she has only missed three out of the hundreds of matches I have had in five years."
Cordero-Sapién admits to being "a little accident-prone" and credits Dr. Kim Buschmann with helping her recuperate in record time.
"He is a saint," she said.
But none of the pain has made her consider quitting.
"Although my injuries have been severe at times, I love wrestling way too much to quit because of a silly injury. I love what I do, whether I am in pain or not. I refuse to quit."
Cordero-Sapién heads to the Nationals competition in Edmonton in two weeks where she's expected to place as well or better than her fourth place national standing in 2005.
