Undefeated start in high school wrestling has Lafayette’s Cole on national radar
WILDWOOD, Mo. (BVM) – Girls wrestling at the high school level across the country continues to emerge, and wrestlers like Faith Cole show why. Cole just finished up her sophomore year at Lafayette High School, winning her second consecutive MSHSAA state wrestling title. She has also started her prep career at an undefeated 55-0, and is on the national radar among high school wrestlers.
Cole began wrestling around age 8 while her family lived in Washington state. She found a love for the sport thanks to the Cole family’s background. Her father, Jesse, wrestled in high school, and her sister, Emma, is a recent graduate of Lafayette who just finished up her prep wrestling career.
Emma wrestled since her sophomore year and has made two state appearances along with Faith. She will go on to wrestle at Lindenwood University next season and is someone who Faith credits for being there for her every step of the way.
Unlike Emma, Faith got an earlier start in the sport, but primarily wrestled for fun until middle school, which is when she began to get more serious with it. Her increased dedication on the mat has turned her into one of the best high school wrestlers in the country.
In Missouri, girls high school wrestling has been sanctioned for two years, which is right when Faith began at Lafayette. Since then she has not lost a match, culminating in back-to-back state wrestling titles. In fact, most girls she has competed against in the state have not even come close to beating her. For the 15-year-old, the undefeated start is a great accomplishment, but she knows there is more to come.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m proud but more relieved of how well I’ve wrestled and I’m ready to keep going,” Faith said.
The undefeated wrestler uses an aggressive approach on the mat. Although winning is the ultimate benchmark, she focuses more on her techniques and personal goals she sets within each match. This approach has led to dominance, and Faith plans to keep it going throughout her prep career.
“As long as I keep checking off boxes, my goal is to be an undefeated, four-time state champ by my senior year. But it’s just one step at a time,” she said.
Dominant in the state of Missouri, Faith has made waves at the national level as well. Last summer, she competed in the 106-pound weight class at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior and 16U Nationals Special Section in Fargo, N.D. There she would go on to win the 16U Nationals and finish second in the Junior Nationals, which featured some of the top wrestlers at that level in the country.
Faith had set goals of a top three finish in 16U Nationals and top eight finish in Junior Nationals, but her dad made sure she changed her mindset and aimed to finish first in both competitions. Although she was one of the youngest competitors, the 15-year-old knew she had the talent to do it.
“I knew I was one of the youngest players in the bracket but I thought it was doable and went match by match to the finals,” Faith said about 16U Nationals. “I pulled it off and was impressed with my own skills. After that tournament I was more recognized and it put me on everyone’s boards to pay attention to me.”
After her performance in Fargo, Faith got to go work out at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado. It is now one of the wrestler’s favorite places to go, and as she says, “it gives you a new perspective on women’s wrestling and wrestling in general.”
The Lafayette wrestler hopes to see the sport grow not only in Missouri, but across the country. In her youth, she primarily wrestled boys and often would be the only girl at tournaments she competed in. But now, she has the platform to get more girls to follow in her footsteps.
“I’ve been told that I can be a good role model for the girls and I do my best to,” Faith said. “One girl at a time, the sport is going to keep growing even bigger.”
Faith’s father also sees her using her platform to grow the sport amongst girls first hand.
“Faith is building a platform for the girls. She often practices with mainly boys and she can give them a challenge and can beat some boys. That kind of raises the level for all wrestlers and gives girls a little more respect on the mat,” Jesse said.
Through the last few years, the undefeated wrestler has developed more and more confidence when on the mat. Of course, the level of confidence always changes depending on the stage which she is competing on.
“Competing in high school and competing in national and international tournaments are two different things,” Faith said. “Walking into certain tournaments I have no problem thinking I am going to win this and I am going to do very well. Walking into a separate tournament, like those internationally, I might be more nervous.”
But as she continues to compete more and more at the higher levels, there is no doubt the confidence will follow. Faith continues to develop, thanks to the help of her coaches at Lafayette, Joe Wier and Berenice Blanco. She also credits her offseason coach, Nick Purler, for helping push her to become an elite wrestler.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has put a halt to most sports, Faith continues to train at home and stay ready for whenever she can officially get back on the mat. Her father and sister continue to help her work out, and she has invited her wrestling partners over to help train as well.
Faith hopes to continue to improve on her game mentally and physically as she aims to finish off her prep career undefeated. Unfortunately, some tournaments scheduled for this summer still remain in limbo, but the sophomore hopes she can compete nationally again soon and qualify for the world championships.
Although she has no college plans yet, the 15-year-old has gotten a head start as she was able to see several schools first hand thanks to tours and visits her sister has been on. But past that, the ultimate goal the wrestling star is looking at is competing in the Olympics, which could happen as soon as 2024.
“If I were to make the Olympic team in the future that would be absolutely amazing. Working with Team USA and being represented by them is definitely one of my future career goals,” Faith said.
An incredibly dominant wrestler, Faith is making high school girls around the country proud. There’s no telling how good the rising junior will become, and that Olympic dream may very well come true sooner than later.
