Aaliyah Swearingen entered the Dekalb Girls Wrestling Sectional as a #9 seed in the 145 weight class. A typical freshman wrestler may have been intimidated by her surroundings, but Aaliyah is not typical.

She defeated the #8 seed in her first match and then lost her second match to the #1 seed and eventual Sectional champion, Belvidere’s Emily Taylor. Aaliyah then won four straight matches to earn third place and a spot in the State competition. Those four matches came against, the #2, #4, #5, and #7 seeds.  

Aaliyah will compete at Grossinger Arena in Bloomington on February 27-28.