#TeamUSATuesday: Women's Freestyle National Team member Dominique Parrish

Photo of Parrish competing at the 2018 U23 World Championships

National Team member Dominique Parrish is the No. 2 women’s freestyle wrestler in the country at 55 kg. She is a three-time U23 World Team member and a two-time WCWA champion. In 2019, she was selected as the WCWA Athlete of the Year. Dominique recently took some time from her training to answer a few questions for us.

What is your favorite movie?
Spirited Away by Hayao Miyazaki

Who is your favorite musical artist?
Billy Joel

What is your favorite food?
Sushi, more specifically Sashimi.
What is your favorite sport to watch other than wrestling?
Soccer
Did you play any other sports growing up?
Not as much as I did wrestling, but I played soccer and softball in high school and ran track in middle school.

Who is your favorite wrestler to watch either past or present?

I really like watching Helen Maroulis. I feel like that’s an obvious answer. On the men’s side I like watching Dave Schultz. He’s just relentless. It’s pretty inspiring to watch.
What are some of your other hobbies off of the mat?
I like eating. I also like trying different recipes when I cook. I used to read a lot, but it’s kind of difficult when you’re in school. During the summer I read quite a bit.

What’s your major?

Health Sciences

What is your biggest fear?
 I’m not very good with spiders. Also, not having control of the situation.

Do you have any plans once your wrestling career is over?
I’m not sure what I want to do with my degree yet. There’s quite a few options for Health Science majors. I’m interested in working in population health, and there’s quite a few things I could do with that.
How did you first get involved in wrestling?
They did a presentation when I was in sixth grade, and they passed around a clipboard around to collect your information. My friends put my name and phone number down, and I was afraid I was going to get in trouble if I didn’t go. I ended up going, and I really liked it. My dad wrestled a bit in high school and college and also coached for a bit, and he was very supportive of it.

You recently competed at the U23 World Championships in Budapest. How was that experience?
I’ve been before, but it’s always a great experience to go to different countries and compete against different people you don’t usually see. I was definitely disappointed that I didn’t medal, which was my goal, but I feel like I’m getting better. I’m trusting in the process and hoping to move into this next year with a lot of energy and confidence

You were Jenna Burkert’s training partner at the Senior World Championships. What was that like?
It was a great experience. I had never been to a Senior World Championships before. I was really interesting to see the different women and their processes for getting ready. I definitely was there to give Jenna what she needed, be it physical on the mat or emotional later, or whatever she needed. It was really cool.

Jacarra Winchester, who defeated you at Final X, won a World title. What was it like watching her do that?
If you’re going to lose to someone, it might as well be the World Champion, right? At that point we weren’t competing anymore, and I was just there to support Team USA. I was so glad that she won. It brings a lot of support to our sport, and in the long run it’s going to help everyone win more.

You’re currently at a Non-Olympic weight class. Which weight do you plan on wrestling to try to earn the Olympic Team spot?
I think I’ll probably end up going 53 kg because I’m already pretty small for 55. I think I’d have to bulk up quite a bit to go 57.

What was the best advice you’ve received in your career?.

Ken Kannegaard, my high school coach who passed away a couple years ago, was very supportive. After tough matches, he would come over and say “you’re still my champion.” I feel like that was huge for me because you’re going to win sometimes and you’re going to lose sometimes, but you’re going to need to dust it off and get back on the mat to keep training.

What advice would you give to a younger wrestler?
I feel like this is very cliché, but trust the process, and embrace the grind. It is a very difficult sport, and I feel like if you don’t love it and aren’t willing to put yourself in uncomfortable situations, then it’s probably not the sport for you. It would be better for you to put your energy towards something that you love more.

Do you have any pre-match rituals?
Not really. I hi-five my coaches and go out.
What motivates you during training?
I try to center back to myself and do positive self-talk like, “you can do this; it’s just a hard workout. You’re going to be better for it.” When I was younger, I was worried that if I tried hard in practice and failed, people were going to judge me for it. But it’s just practice, and ultimately all that will lead to doing you better on the mat.
What is your best wrestling memory to date?
In high school, I had a lot of good memories with my team. In the offseason we would do freestyle during my junior and senior year. It was just a really good group of people, and we’d travel to these tournaments and wrestle and hang out and eat. It was a good bonding experience, and those people are still my friends today.

The Parrish file
Birthday: November 5, 1996
Hometown: Scotts Valley, Calif.
High school: Scotts Valley High Schools
College: Simon Fraser University
Residence: Burnaby, British Columbia
Club: Sunkist Kids
Twitter: Domparrish1
Instagram: Domyparrish
- Three-Time U23 World Team member (2017,2018, 2019)
- Fifth at 2018 U23 World Championships
- 2019 World Team Trials Challenge Tournament champion
- 2019 Final X qualifier
- Two-time WCWA champion (2018,2019)
- Two-time National Team member (2017/2018, 2018/2019)
- Three-time U.S. Open place winner (third in 2019, second in 2018, third in 2017)
- Runner-up at 2019 Dave Schultz Memorial International
- Third at 2017 Dave Schultz Memorial International