Bear River freshman Ruby Figueroa isn’t shy about her favorite part of wrestling.

“You just get to beat people up for fun,” she admitted.

But she’s also got a gentler side.

“(Figueroa’s) really kind, she is really passionate about everything she does and is always willing to help someone out by just giving advice and being there for them,” friend Emma Martel said.

Figueroa has already played volleyball this fall, is wrestling in the winter and hoping to do track and field in the spring.

With the volleyball season ended and she is ready to jump into her true passion — wrestling.

“The reason I started wrestling is mainly because my dad is the coach,” Figueroa said. “But other than that just because of the sport itself and being a team sport and also an individual sport at the same time.”

What she truly loves about wrestling is “I really love the community and especially how welcoming it is despite your background, you just get to beat up people for fun. That’s what I love about wrestling."

Through wrestling Figueroa met her best friend Martel, even though they don’t live close to each other the distance doesn’t affect them at all. Emma lives in Orangevale and goes to Casa Roble High School.

“No honestly, it’s really easy,” Martel said. “We text almost every day and when we see each other it’s not awkward at all. It’s like we never left each other’s side.”

One of the hardest parts of being a wrestler is getting into the zone.

“What gets me ready is not talking to people for 5-10 minutes before my match,” Figueroa said. “Because I’m such a social person I decide to talk and then I get on the mat and I'm like what am I doing? You have to get the body ready for the match and warmed up, so once you're on the mat you don’t freeze up.”

Figueroa has some big goals in wrestling.

“My goal this year is to place first in our league,” Figueroa said. “And in sections, I want to place in the top eight so I can go to masters, and then hopefully just do well at masters itself.”