Izabella Frezzo
Sport: Wrestling
School: Becton
Class: Senior Age: 17
Accomplishment: Won state championship at 107-pounds, defeating Alisa Safforld of Belleville, 6-2, in the final.
By Darren Cooper – Record Sports Columnist
The victory was sweet. The celebration unusual. The challenge was real.
Becton senior Izabella Frezzo became the first state wrestling champion in school history Saturday, completing a journey that started when she was three-years old and learning how to box and became a jujitsu champion.
She transferred those skills over to the wrestling mat in high school. She was the North Jersey Female Wrestler of the Year in 2020 (odds are she will repeat that honor in 2021) and will wrestle for New Jersey City University, one of the few female college wrestling programs in the nation, in the fall.
Before winning her state title, Frezzo encountered a different enemy: the challenge of maintaining her mental health during a time of such uncertainty.
“I feel like mental health has been a rising topic on social media, and after COVID, a lot of people were struggling,” Frezzo said. “It’s hard to be inside for so long. It was really difficult. I am a problem solver. People come to me with their problems and I try to give them good advice.”
COVID-19 completely upended Frezzo’s activity routine. When you’ve spent almost your entire life working and training your body, it’s hard to handle when that’s taken away.
Frezzo said she would ask her parents for mental health days from school, and while she doesn’t believe she was depressed, perhaps down is a better word for it.
“It was very, very empty,” she said. “I had to go to school. I couldn’t train. It was real sad.”
Throw in the fact that, like any other young woman these days, there are social media brands to manage and control. It’s easy to see why it can become overwhelming.
“The impression people get of me on social media is only a small part,” Frezzo said. “I try to stick to posts about athletics on Instagram. All my close friends know that wrestling is a big part of my life, but I still have a life outside of that.”
Thanks to COVID-19 protocols, there were no names on the bracket Frezzo received and there was no podium to stand on. That was strange, but didn’t dull her emotions and joy.
Frezzo was still hoarse from cheering on her club teammates two days after winning the state title at Phillipsburg High Schoo. She was still full from returning to a carb-heavy diet: Penne vodka and Krispy Kreme donuts are a good reward for a state champ.
