Student Athlete of the Week – Zahra Shatavy

How would you describe her as an athlete? 

"As an athlete, she's scrappy. This is her second year so we're really developing on her technique right now," said Indio head coach Miguel Villalobos. "And trying to focus on her aggressiveness on the mat. She's doing a good job with us and she won the league last year, and we're really looking on building on that."

Was there anything specifically about wrestling that gravitated you towards it? 

"Yeah, mainly just like how physically challenging it is, like mentally and physically. You're in there for, let's say, two and a half hours a day and its full cardio, it's your full body working towards it. It makes you feel better after like the endorphins," said Zahra Shatavy. 

"Coming in this year she's dropped some weight, so she's going to a lighter weight class, which is going to make her a little stronger. She's going to go into 170 weight classes. She was a DVL champion last year at 191," said Villalobos. "She put in a lot of time over the summer, trying to hone some skills, which we really appreciate. Her leadership and her technique are going to really help us and the younger girls get to where we need to go." 

What are you hoping to accomplish your senior year? 

"Last year I made it CIF and this year I want to go to State," said Shatavy. "I want to be a state wrestler. It's destined for me to be able to take DVL again, as well as placed on top three at CIF and maybe top six at masters. But state is really my top goal. As well as officially sign was one of the colleges."

  
Zahra says that her brother and mom have played the biggest roles in her journey. Indio girls wrestling is fairly new to the school and she hopes to change that.  

"Last year there were three girls, myself, Destiny and Clarissa and we had a great season. We all did really good. We all placed in DVL and went to CIF. I wanted something more; I wanted something to leave behind when I go off to college. I want to leave my mark in women's wrestling and grow women's wrestling," said Shatavy.