Del City (Oklahoma) girls wrestler Chloe Daniels doesn't let birth defect deter her from competing

OKLAHOMA CITY - Chloe Daniels has been wrestling for only a couple of years.

The Del City sophomore didn’t touch a wrestling mat until she was a freshman.

Yet, Daniels found herself in a position she could not have imagined when she first started the sport. At the recent 6A Girls West Regional tournament, she was just one victory from earning a spot in the state tournament in the 170-pound weight class. 

National high school wrestling news, notes, updates (2/20/2024) 

To have come so far in such a short period of time, Daniels wasn’t about to let the opportunity slip away as she defeated Piedmont’s Klaire Luschen to earn a trip to this week's 6A Girls State Wrestling Championship. 

“I put in the work last year and I put in the work over the summer,” Daniels said. “I've been putting in the work and I felt like I was going to qualify.” 

At the regional tournament, which was held at Yukon, Daniels finished the two-day event with a 5-2 record. Both her defeats came to Putnam City’s Ashley Maldanado Gamas. That includes her final match of the day, which was for third place.

Despite the loss to Gamas and taking fourth place, Daniels was happy with her overall performance. Not just because of how far she has come, but also due to what she has had to overcome.

“The work, the dedication, it's all about your mindset and how you adapt to things that are thrown at you,” Daniels said. “That's how I was raised.”

Daniels was born with a congenital limb difference in which her right arm is not fully formed. It’s an issue she has had to deal with throughout her life. It was also why she started wrestling last year.

“That's part of the reason that I really wanted to come out and wrestle because I had one arm,” Daniels said. “I wanted to prove to people that I was strong enough to be independent and strong enough to do this.”

National top 25 high school wrestling rankings for every weight class (2/15/2024) 

Despite encountering naysayers, even within the sport, Daniels was bound and determined to prove the doubters wrong.

“My whole life, I haven't been able to do a lot of things and being like this, and I was bullied growing up,” Daniels said. “So, I wanted to show that I was strong enough.”

While others doubted Daniels, it took just one person to believe in her to plant the grappling seed.

“I had a coach in middle school, my PE coach, and he was like, ‘Hey, I think you should wrestle. You'd be really good at it.’” Daniels recalled. “And I was like, ‘I don't know if I want to try that.'

"And then whenever I got to high school I was like, ‘Oh, I've seen all these girls and I wanted to be a part of it.'”

Daniels, who’s taken the nickname Strong Arm, is not the first person with a physical disability who has turned to wrestling as a proving ground. Kyle Maynard, Hasaan Hawthorne and Anthony Robles are just some of the athletes who went on to find success on the high school and collegiate levels.

Right now, Daniels is just focused on competing in her first state tournament. She gives her coach, Jamie Shawver, and her teammates the credit for how far she has gotten.

When Daniels takes the mat at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City later this week, she hopes she is an inspiration and motivation to anyone else who is going through adversity. She wants them to know the answer to overcoming it is simple.

“It might be cliche, but if you want to do something and you set your mind to it, you can definitely do it,” Daniels said. “That's really all there is to it.”

State tournament action for classes 6A-2A begins Thursday with the first round. The championship matches are set to start at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the State Fair Arena in Oklahoma City.

-- Michael Kinney | @SBLiveOK