Freshman Jayden Laurent earned the title of National Champion for the Women’s Collegiate Wrestling Association for the 143 lbs. weight class. She is the first for Lakeland University.

Jayden Laurent joined Lakeland University and the women’s wrestling team last fall after multiple conversations with the team’s coaches. “Coming here allowed me to stay close to home and my support system. I wanted to start a legacy for other girls to follow and eventually build something very special here.”

The season went just as Laurent hoped it would; she worked hard to train from the moment she got to campus and continued to push herself to improve after every match she had. Laurent created a vigorous routine for herself to stay on top of her game. She ran every morning and did sprint workouts in her free time with the help of her coaches. She mentioned that wrestling is a physically demanding sport and one must be willing to put the time in, “Most days after practice I would be so exhausted that I could barely do homework, but it was all worth it in the end.”

When asked if nervous before the national match, Laurent said, “I usually get very nervous before matches, but for my finals match, I was so excited. I’ve worked so hard for this, and it was finally my time to show everyone that.”

Laurent said that her coaches, teammates and family all played a very influential part in her national title. She stated that they pushed her every day and instilled confidence in her all year. She said this is what lead her to perform as well as she did, “I was overwhelmed with so many emotions after winning my national title. My dream finally came true.”

Laurent stated her next goal is making another world team and winning gold at the next World Championships. “I want to repeat this performance the next three years and be a four-time national champion for Lakeland.”