Even with three state titles already under her belt, Faith Tarrant admits she was nervous stepping out on the mat in the Tacoma Dome last weekend.
“I have to look at my coaches and they kind of give me faith, like, ‘You're okay, take a deep breath, it's all gonna be okay,’” Tarrant said this week. “They always have to remind me to have fun. To just enjoy what you're doing.”
Photo courtesy The Reflector Newspaper/Cade Barker
Tarrant took less than a minute and a half to pin her finals opponent, Olivia Hudson of Oak Harbor High School, in the 235-pound 3A division. Smiling broadly, Tarrant raised her right fist, holding her left hand at chest level, four fingers extended, one for each of her state titles. The rest seemed like a dream.
“I feel kind of at a loss for words,” she said. “I'm just trying to figure out what's next, you know?”
Tarrant is keeping busy. She is Prairie’s student body president and co-leader of the school’s Black Student Union. Tarrant said she has received numerous scholarship offers to wrestle at the collegiate level, but said she hasn’t picked a school yet. She plans to take a break from training to focus on finishing out her senior year on an academically strong note.
Outside of wrestling, Tarrant said she’s interested in pursuing a career in the legal field, possibly as a child advocate. She and her family moved to Brush Prairie partway through her freshman year from a Denver neighborhood with high poverty rates. She said the opportunities she’s gotten at Prairie have inspired her to help others achieve their dreams.
“I just want to work somewhere where kids know they have options,” she said, “because that was given to me too.”
“Faith has grown to become a person who wants to give and wants to support her community,” said Prairie Principal Susannah Woehr. “That is huge, because that’s exactly what other students start to see, and it’s a model for students who are still figuring themselves out.”
Tarrant said her status as an elite athlete has afforded her the opportunity to speak up about issues that matter to her and others in the school. She has used her voice to advocate for tolerance and better understanding of differing cultures and ethnicities.
“I get to show people I'm more than my color, you know, and it's pretty awesome,” she said. “I feel like my opportunities here at Prairie are endless.”
Photo courtesy The Reflector Newspaper/Cade Barker