Multi-division Fargo champ, now two-time U17 World champ Fernandez a star in the making

Photo: Taina Fernandez entering the Fargodome during the girls’ finals on Sunday, July 13. Photo by Tony Rotundo.

Editor’s Note: This story appeared in WIN’s Volume 31 Issue 10, the Fargo/Final X Commemorative Edition. Click here or call 641-792-4436 to subscribe to WIN Magazine. Buy a Digital or Combo Subscription to get immediate digital access to the Fargo/Final X Commemorative Issue, or a Print Subscription to get WIN mailed to you (using Discount Code “Fargo”).

By John Klessinger

During the quarterfinal rounds at the U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D., Taina Fernandez saw her name on deck on two different mats. It wasn’t a mistake. She was scheduled to wrestle in back-to-back matches. Any wrestler or fan would question, “How is this possible?”

Fernandez wasn’t wrestling in one tournament. She was wrestling two. She was competing both in the U16 and Junior (high school wrestlers born before September 1, 2005) divisions.

“The anxiety of being called simultaneously to two different mats created pressure on Taina the entire tournament. She became overwhelmed with confidence that erased previous doubts about competing in two divisions,” said her Capital Wrestling Club coach Jay LaValley. LaValley and Capital Club Coach Elijah Oliver cornered her at Fargo.

She went 12-0 at Fargo, winning the U16 and Junior championships. She outscored her opponents 115 to 2, giving up one takedown during her U16 quarterfinal match against Chloe Wehry from Minnesota.

Fernandez had 10 tech falls and two falls against the best high school girls in the country. Dominating is an understatement. Other worldly may be more accurate. She routinely scored in huge bunches from takedowns right into exposures (back points). Only two of her 12 matches made it past the first period.

“Wrestling two divisions at Fargo this year was, in one word, exhilarating. It both nerved and thrilled me. What kept me dialed in the entire time was having a constant belief in myself that I could be a double champ at 16U and Juniors.”

The double championships add to an already impressive resume of achievements. The Maryland native is quickly becoming a legend at only 16 years old, like Jax Forrest, PJ Duke, Marcus Blaze, and Bo Bassett. She competes with a high level of precision and maturity uncommon for wrestlers her age.

Fernandez has already won multiple college open tournaments, including the Ken Kraft Midlands twice. She won the U17 World Championship last summer at age 15. She has only two losses to female wrestlers since 2023, one being to 2024 Nigerian Olympian Esther Kolawole, 5-3, at the Indiana Tech Warrior Women’s College Open last January. The other loss was in the finals of the Princeton College Open to a 28-year-old Canadian wrestler in 2023 when she was just 14.

To put her wrestling skill in perspective, she has multiple wins over accomplished male wrestlers. She has beaten National Prep place winners and Maryland state placers. She has won or placed in many high-level tournaments, competing against boys and girls.

“I don’t consider the ‘size’ of my wins. To me, each match holds the same weight. I go into each match, regardless of who I’m wrestling or what round of the tournament, with the same exact mindset,” said Fernandez when asked about her biggest wins. She’s humble and determined. In her parents’ and coaches’ words, make Taina who she is. “She has a perfectionist streak and often is her own biggest critic,” says her dad Kareem Fernandez, a former wrestler and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Army.

Long-time coach and three-time NCAA Division I Championship qualifier at Edinboro and Millersville Universities, Jason Gabrielson, said, “Taina is the most dedicated wrestler I’ve coached. People don’t see the hours she spends training and the discipline with her diet and fitness.”

Gabrielson has worked with Fernandez since she was five years old at the Southern Maryland Wrestling Club. He has coached numerous NCAA Division I, II, and III wrestlers. “Everyone sees her success, but very few see how much work she puts in to be successful,” Gabrielson added.

The daughter of Kareem and Trini Navia, Fernandez was born in Sierra Vista, Arizona while Kareen was stationed in the military. The family relocated to Bowie, Maryland where they have been ever since.

After trying many sports when she was young, wrestling was the one that sparked her interest the most. After her first practice when she was four years old, while in the car driving home, she looked at her tooth, which was purple from colliding with another wrestler during sprints. Purple is her favorite color. “From that moment on, a spark lit up for wrestling, and it grew into a fiery passion today,” Fernandez recalled.

Twelve years ago, women’s wrestling was not like it is today. She struggled to find partners. “No one wanted to partner up with me because I was the only one who looked like me in the room, or people simply didn’t believe how badly I wanted it,” she said.

Today, women’s wrestling is the fastest-growing high school sport in the country. However, even now, at times, Fernandez has to deal with the same adversity. As a result, she has learned to shut out the “outside noise” and uses it to motivate her to perform to the best of her ability.

“The past four to five years, she has really dialed in on her faith. I think it has really helped her balance the pressure of the sport and block out the negative noise,” her mom Trini said. “She’s a great big sister and enjoys doing teenager things,” she added.

Taina’s younger brother, Alexander Kareem, also known as “AK,” is nine years old. Like Taina, wrestling is in AK’s blood. He has been an All-American the past two years at Kids Nationals.

Up next for Taina is the U17 World Championships in Greece, taking place from July 27 to August 8. Taina will compete on July 31 and August 1, looking to defend her 61-kg crown. If she does, it will add to her growing list of domestic and international accomplishments. She has already won five Pan-Am titles in the U15 and U17 age groups, along with two Beach National Championships, numerous college opens, Beast of the East, Super 32 and Fargo titles.

“Since I was little, my determination has been a core characteristic of what makes me who I am,” Taina says. That determination is her strength, allowing her to push through anything she sets her mind to. Her determination, in her own words, is her “sense of power,” which stops at nothing to be the hardest worker every time she steps on a mat.

Taina credits Gabrielson, LaValley, and Oliver as having had a significant impact on her growth as a wrestler.

Gabrielson and LaValley have been with her since the early days, while LaValley, a former UMass Lowell wrestler and standout NCAA track and field athlete, began working with Taina in 2016 at the Bowerhouse Wrestling Academy in Frederick, Md.

Olympic gold medalist and fellow Marylander Helen Maroulis is a primary source of inspiration for Hernandez. She also looks up to Jordan Burroughs. She admires his consistency regardless of the pressure he faces.

She encourages young wrestlers to have a growth mindset. She knows if a wrestler goes “all in,” the results will come. “I believe that to have a growth mindset, you have to love what you do, and it’s that love for your craft that will motivate you to grow it to its full potential,” she says.

A rising junior at Archbishop Spalding High School in Severn, Md., Taina has her sights set on the 2028 Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles, California. Yet, what has and continues to motivate her is her love of the sport. She consistently reminds herself of “little Taina.” The small child who fell in love with wrestling.

Fast forward 12 years, and thousands of hours of training later, and her love for the sport is what drives her. It drives her when she isn’t feeling motivated. She remembers the purple tooth. The times when she didn’t always feel confident and doubted herself. But she knows they are the reasons why she is where she is today. “Relentless determination” is her power. A distinct quality that makes her special. A quality that pushes her to unlock her full potential.

(John Klessinger is a teacher and wrestling coach at South River High School in Maryland. You can follow him on Instagram @coachkless and like his Facebook page “Coach Kless”.)