Mrs. Yancey may be known on campus as a fun and energetic PE teacher, but she is also a legend and pioneer of women’s wrestling. A 4-time national champion in women’s wrestling, 4-time world silver medalist and Pan-American champion, Mrs. Yancey is a lot more than meets the eye.  

   From a young age coach Yancey was always different. She grew up with mostly brothers, so she often found herself out in the streets playing football, and she was quite good at it. But no matter how hard she begged her father to let her play football he never did, because he believed she was too small. Understanding that she wanted to be challenged, he encouraged her to join the wrestling team. 

   On her first day of wrestling her coach had her wrestle with one of the toughest guys on the team.  

   “The kid beat me up, he beat me up all practice long… And I walked out the doors and I was just like ‘oh my god that was so awesome,’” said Yancey.  

  For the first 2 years Yancey wrestled prominently boys, and she was winning. By her senior year Yancey wrestled varsity as a team captain. 

   For the 8 years Yancey wrestled on the USA National Team she represented America all around the world. After her wrestling career, Yancey moved on to coaching internationally, finding even more success around the world as a coach, leading multiple people to the world stage. Yancey never gave up, never letting others stop her from achieving her dreams. 

   “You can give me as many no’s as you want and I’m going to turn that no into a yes,” said Yancey. 

   Despite her participation in a largely male dominated sport, Yancey never changed who she was to fit in with the team. The pressure on females to fit into the masculine stereotype of wrestling was something that Mrs. Yancey always set herself apart from.  

   “I was like ‘I’m a girl, and I want to be a feminine girl, and I’m still going to come in here and whoop some booty,’” said Yancey. 

   On February 7th, 2025, Yancey was formally recognized amongst a group of the foremost pioneers of women’s wrestling and commemorated for being part of the foundation on which women’s wrestling was built to be the sport it is today.  

   Considering her massive success as a coach, even named female coach of the year, Yancey’s eyes are set on even bigger things, one of her goals being able to take another team to the world stage. Given her resume, it’s safe to say the sky is the limit for Yancey.