SAC Stories Alumna Spotlight: Jade Morales
'No Option but Victory'
Inside the Mindset of Santa Ana College's First Women's Wrestling State Champion
Santa Ana College (SAC) student Jade Morales is SAC’s first women’s wrestling state champion. Along with a number of accolades she has pulled in, Morales received recognition from the city of Santa Ana twice in 2024 for her athletic excellence.
On Oct. 28, 2024, Morales signed her letter of intent to attend Southern Oregon University in the spring, joining the Southern Oregon University raiders, who compete at the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) level of women’s wrestling.
What was your reaction when you found out that the city wanted to present a certificate of recognition to you?
I grew up in Santa Ana and I really love Santa Ana so it made me feel like what I was giving back to my city was coming back to me. I started to feel that I was going to skyrocket when I had support from the city.
Wrestling state champion Jade Morales receives city of Santa Ana recognition from councilmember Phil Bacerra.
What was your reaction to becoming SAC’s first women’s wrestling state champion and what does it mean to be SAC’s first women’s wrestling state champion?
At first, I didn’t know I was going to be the first women’s state champion. That was my end goal. That was the whole reason why I was training but I didn’t put two and two together when it happened. To me, having an accolade like that– a title, means a lot because it means opening doors for other girls that want to wrestle.
My wrestling partner went “All-American” as well. I have a lot of other teammates who placed and are bringing in accolades and trophies. It entices girls to come in and wrestle and it makes me happy because it’s just grown the sport here at the school.
When did you start wrestling and how did that transition to wrestling for SAC?
When I first started wrestling here, there wasn’t a women’s wrestling program. It was just me and two other girls. Wrestling is a weight based sport so it was me at 120 pounds, my next partner was 160 pounds, and the next partner was 180 pounds.
But wrestling has been in my life forever. My dad wrestled, my uncle wrestled, everyone in my family wrestled.
What is the most challenging part of wrestling?
The most challenging part of wrestling is the mental aspect. Nobody wants to get up at 6 in the morning and go for a run or come to the morning practice where you’re just gonna get beat up. It’s difficult because you also have to manage yourself throughout the week with your weight cut – some people cut 10 pounds within 3 days. It takes a lot of mental strength to get through wrestling. And I think that’s the most difficult part that I struggled with and that I’m coming around to.
What keeps you motivated?
What keeps me motivated is myself. I don’t see any other option but to keep going. I would like to say
that it’s my mom or my dad, my sisters, but it just comes naturally to me. I just do it. Something else that motivates me is my competition. There’s been so many days where I’m in bed and it’s 6 in the morning and I don’t want to get up in the morning and run but then I think, “What if this girl is doing this? There’s someone out there working harder than you.” And I’ve never jumped out of bed faster at that thought. So, it’s always me or my competition. I’m always trying to beat everybody in the room and if I beat everybody in the room, then I wanna beat myself from yesterday.
What is next for you?
What’s next for me is to transfer to Southern Oregon University. I’ve signed there to be their 124-pounder. I’m gonna continue doing what I do, being an academic weapon and slamming people on the mat. I’m really excited. I’ve always wanted to go to Oregon but I’m just gonna do what I always do, and I have nothing to lose at this next level, so I’m just gonna give it everything.
What is your next goal?
The next big goal would be becoming an NAIA champion. I don’t like to lose so I’m pretty sure I’ll find a way to win. But I would love to “All-American” again. Last year was the first time I got “All-American” status and it was cool to kind of throw that around a little bit, so it wouldn’t hurt to get another one.
What advice do you have for people?
Advice I would give people is to stay consistent and remember the goal. My motto over this past year was “remember the goal.” Any time you are feeling discouraged or you don’t feel motivated to do what you wanna do today, remember the end goal. Remember what you’re doing all this work for. Every day I wake up and I remember what I need to be doing that day. I remember what the goal is– I want to graduate, I want to be a champion. I want to keep winning. So remember the goal and remember what you’re working towards every single day. There’s gonna be a lot of days where you don’t feel motivated. But, if you remember the goal, coming in and doing what you need to do regardless of how you feel, is how you get better. It is how you become a better person.
