Gabrielle Weyhrich '17

• First-year health and wellness major from Fremont, Nebraska

• President’s List (4.0 GPA)

• Bearcat women’s wrestling team

• 2011 Cornhusker State Games Female
Athlete of the Year in high school

• Plans to be a dental hygienist

• Aspires to be an Olympian

 

Gabby Weyhrich ’17 grew up on a wrestling mat. She started in kindergarten and never looked back.

“Wrestling is my life, plain and simple. My family is just a wrestling family,” says Gabby, who has two brothers. “My dad started my older brother in our town’s wrestling club and I wanted to be just like him so that's where my wrestling career all began. As a kid, my opponents were little boys who wrestled for different wrestling clubs around Nebraska. I was the only female wrestler in Nebraska so I only wrestled males. I did a few national tournaments in high school where I competed against girls but I was always on boys’ teams growing up and in high school.

“Wrestling is the only sport I have ever participated in that challenged me physically and mentally. It has definitely made me who I am today and shaped my character.”

Joining the McKendree Bearcats’ women’s wrestling program in its inaugural season is “the best experience I have ever been through,” Gabby says. “I consider myself lucky to grow in my wrestling ability as the program grows. It is awesome how our whole team is made up with girls from all over the United States and we all came here to form something special.”

She and her teammates set many goals, collectively and individually. “Through it all, we united as a family and became very close. We are always together on and off the mat, and encourage each other to have the drive to succeed. We work hard to be successful. Soon we will be one of the top teams in the country, there is no doubt in my mind.”

Gabby posted a 14-12 record in her first season as a Bearcat. “I am nowhere near the level I want to be on. Because I have been wrestling so long, I have many goals for myself. I will not stop competing or improving until I am the best in the world. I always try to do more work because I know that is what it takes to be the best. I also have great coaches that help me every day in practice.

“At the end of my time here at McKendree, I want to make sure I have left the best mark on the school that I can. I want to be a role model for student-athletes in the future.”

Learn more about McKendree University and the Women's Wrestling program.