The unbreakable bond

Gemma Deyo, right, and her sister, Rebecca, are sophomores at Campbellsville University and compete on the women’s wrestling team.

Growing up, so many people thought my sister Rebecca and I were twins. With disgust, we would loudly profess “no way!” We were total opposites. I was inside playing with makeup and combing my hair, meanwhile Becca would be outside climbing trees and pretending a zombie apocalypse was on its way. My mom would try to put us in matching outfits, and I loved the dresses we would wear, but Becca would always complain and never want to match.

Everyone would call us the twins even though we were a year apart. Becca and I were forced to do everything together, heck, there was no possible way we could get even closer. At least that’s what I thought. One sunny afternoon while Becca was strapping on her sneakers to go play outside and I was sitting at the kitchen table talking with my mom about school, she mentioned something that would change the trajectory of my life forever.

“How would you feel about being in the same grade as Becca?”

“No way!” I cried out loud.

This was the last thing I wanted to hear. Becca ran inside when she heard the news from the crack of the kitchen window and started laughing and jumping for joy. The girl who would complain about wearing matching hairstyles with me was jumping for joy at the thought that we would be in the same class.

I wasn’t so thrilled with this idea, especially repeating a whole year all over again. However, the sister who I thought hated my guts because we were so different suddenly became my best friend. We were now in the same class, and we were moving to Tennessee, so each other is all we had.

In school, it still didn’t come easy to me. Becca, who seemed to have no trouble whipping up an assignment, would offer to do my homework. That soon ended after she received a C on the same assignment, and I walked out with my A+!

Fast forward to high school, my junior year, I decided to try wrestling. I had no idea what to do, or where to begin. I thought it would be something I could try to get into shape. My sister, who had no choice but to wait for me until I finished practice, decided to be the manager. It didn’t take much convincing for my sister to join the team as well, as she had been a tomboy her whole life and a little sweat didn’t bother her. We both had no idea how to wrestle. We had no idea what the “rules” were. Most of our practices was us taking out our frustration on each other and leaving with a black eye or bloody nose. For the longest time we were separated and forbidden to be practice partners because we didn’t only want to win when we went against each other, but we wanted to prove one was better than the other. We were rivals.

This only made us better. The rivalry we had was over shown by the support we showed each other. No one was louder than my sister whenever I was competing, and when she made it to the finals at state, I snuck down to the stadium pretending to be a worker with a fake ID tag just so I could be down there to support her. It was no doubt we both had talent and had improved so much in the short time we had been wrestling. Near the end of senior season, Becca made up her mind and told me she was going to be done with wrestling. I saw the potential she had to get even better than she was and to compete collegiately. If I was going to take this sport to the next level, I needed my sister by my side. Becca explained to me, “Gemma, we’re going to be done with high school, I want to start working and do my own thing.” I wanted her to make her own decision, but at the end of the day we both had the potential and work ethic to become great. It’s crazy to see how when we were younger, she was so ecstatic about being in the same grade at the same school, but the roles were reversed when we grew up, and I realized I was the one who needed my little sister with me in this new chapter of my life.

It took three months of convincing to get Becca on the same page. She’s always been stubborn but the one thing that made her happy was that we were going to be doing it together. We signed with Campbellsville University’s women’s wrestling team with the help of our coach and CU alumna Kenya Sloan.

When Rebecca and I arrived at CU we didn’t know anybody. My dad dropped us off at college and the only thing we had was about $5 in our bank account and each other. Soon after, the girls on the team, as well as the coaches, welcomed us as family. I don’t only have one sister on the wrestling team, but countless others that have our backs and love us.

Practicing at 5:30 in the morning only makes us stronger mentally and physically. We put our blood, sweat and tears into this sport, literally. Even though we both are studying different career paths, we still are together on the mat. Before matches, we are always in the corner cheering each other on, whether that’s through a win or loss.

Looking back, I never thought my struggle in school would lead me to where I am now. It makes me think of how all the decisions in our lives end up making a huge impact. If I had never struggled in school, and hadn’t made that decision to get held back, I wouldn’t have been wrestling with my sister. I can only thank God for giving me my best friend for life. Most people go their whole lives looking for their soulmate, but I was blessed enough to not even have to look. I had mine forever, my sister.