Jan 1, 2026 3 min read

Name: Yunuen Ayala

Grade: Junior

School: Canon-McMillan

Sport: Wrestling

Ayala’s Week: Going into the Powerade girls tournament, Ayala had a mindset of having fun, wrestling free and getting some points on the board.

It was a formula that helped her win the 124-pound title.

She was one of two winners for Canon-McMillan, which won the team title for the third consecutive year. Marlee Solomon (118-pounds) also won an individual title.

Ayala defeated Caitlin Rankin of Riverbend (Va.) in the championship match by a 9-5 decision.

It was a rematch of a matchup at Beast of the East tournament in Delaware a week earlier. Rankin won via a pin in 31 seconds, but Ayala got her revenge at Powerade.

“The first time I wrestled her I went into for a double and she chin-whipped me and I got caught on my back,” Ayala said. “When I found out I was going to go against her in the finals, I was excited because I could actually see where I was with her and wrestle her instead of getting caught on my back. I don’t think (the first bout) was a natural representation of either of our skills.”

Referred by a friend: Ayala’s wrestling journey began with a question from a friend. Malia Ramos approached Ayala about joining the wrestling team and she decided to sign up.

“I was very bored in eighth grade and Malia came up to me and asked if I wanted to join the wrestling team, because she had joined the year before,” Ayala said. “It kind of went from there. I fell in love with it.

My mom wasn’t too much of a fan when I first joined, but she came around to it. I have some family that does martial arts and boxing and a cousin who (wrestled) in Mexico, but I didn’t know about that until I had already started wrestling.”

Returning from injury: Ayala missed most of the first half of last season because of a knee injury. She returned to the mat last February and finished with a 10-4 record. It took some time to readjust after missing so much time, but she began to regain her confidence in time.

“Getting back was really difficult,” Ayala said. “I definitely had a fear of getting injured again for a while. I felt like I had that fear until I went to a tournament in October. That’s where I decided I wanted to enjoy wrestling again. I ignored my fear of being injured and just wrestled. What helped me was that I found a lot of joy in training and competing again. I love learning technique. I focus on that more on that more than the results.”

Making a name: Ayala said she gets asked all the time about her unique first name, Yunuen.

Turns out she’s named after an Island.

The Isla de Yunuen. It’s a small island inside Lake Pátzcuaro in the state of Michoacán in Mexico.

“My parents are from Mexico, so they named me after an island there,” Ayala said. “It’s pronounced June-you-in and my nickname is “Jun-e”, but I guess someone misheard it at some point, because it’s turned into “You-nee”, so people have been calling me that.”

Compiled by Jerin Steele