My relationship with my brother is so meaningful. I started wrestling because of him—he needed a consistent training partner.
Over time, what began as support turned into something much deeper. We grew through the sport together, often dedicating our wins to one another.
No one understood his wrestling better than my dad and me and, as he would say, no one could match the level of partnership I brought into the room.
Our connection ran so deep that our wins and losses never felt separate.
With each ACL tear, my brother felt it with me. He sat with me in those moments, trying to help me see beyond the pain and toward something greater.
Ultimately, he was the one who encouraged me to step away from the sport and continue my path through medicine.
The night before his finals match, he called me, his voice breaking. “I’m going to win this for you, Nyla.”
Those words meant everything to me. And in that moment, I realized that my journey had become part of his—fueling a strength that helped carry him to something special.
The embrace we shared afterward is one of my most vivid memories. It captured everything our relationship represents—sacrifice, love and a bond that was built not just through sport but through everything we gave to each other along the way.
My experiences with injury have driven me to pursue medicine with a desire to go into orthopedics, specializing in sports medicine to help injured athletes.
Nyla Valencia is a Sobrato High School alumnus and elite wrestler who won the CIF State championship in 2020. She went on to compete for University of Iowa before retiring due to injuries. She wrote this story for the Morgan Hill Times.
