By Joe Mehling
USA Wrestling

The week before the 2016 U.S. Senior Nationals Tamyra Mensah got a quick reality check. Her boyfriend pointed to the wall where Mensah hangs her medals and noted that, although there were a lot of them, not many were gold.

“We need to change that this weekend,” he told her.

After runner-up performances at the U.S. World Team trials, Grand Prix of Spain and Bill Farrell International last year, Mensah walked out of the Senior Nationals having broken through that finals barrier. She left Las Vegas with gold hanging from her neck.

“It was bad enough that the coaches were saying that and now I had my boyfriend saying it,” Mensah said. “All those second-place finishes really pushed me to go get first place even more. I like being the underdog. Of course, I would like to be on top, but when you are on top you have a target on your back. For me, I like to sit back and watch my opponents and then sneak up and take it from them. That was a big change in my life. To actually have a plaque that said first place, it opened a door somewhere in my mind. It told me that I am more capable than I was aware of. It was awesome.”

Mensah’s rise through the ranks of USA Wrestling started when her sister pulled her off the track and into the wrestling room at Morton Ranch High School in Katy, Texas. Mensah, who had been a sprinter until the age of 16, wound up dominating Texas girls wrestling, ending her high school career with back-to-back state championships.

Legendary Texas wrestling coach Johnny Cobb, who received the Lifetime Service to Wrestling award from the Texas State Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2005, recruited Mensah to Wayland Baptist University. Cobb coached 2000 Olympic gold medalist and current U.S. National Freestyle coach Brandon Slay, who will be inducted as a Distinguished Member at the 40th Anniversary Honors Weekend on June 3-4, while he was wrestling in Texas.

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