Evergreen College wrestler trades the mat for fighting fires over the summer

Mariah Paz is used to facing tough opponents, but this summer, the Evergreen State College wrestler has been taking on something very different: wildfires.

Paz, 21, is a junior on Evergreen’s women’s wrestling team and works as a wildland firefighter. The job can turn dangerous quickly.

Paz remembers being down in a canyon when fire started closing in from both directions. She was with the owner of the firefighting company she works for. She did not want to admit she was scared. But she was.

“I didn’t want to seem like I was scared, but I was scared,” Paz said. “I was like, ‘I think I need to come out. It’s getting hot in here.’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, come out.'”

She got out.

Paz said that is part of the job too. Knowing when a situation is no longer safe.

Other days are less dramatic, but still exhausting. Crews may spend hours waiting for direction. Then suddenly they are hauling hose up steep hills and mountains, cutting fire line, or protecting homes.

“We’re cutting line in with the hand crew, which is like being right there in the fire,” Paz said. “Or we’re spraying down 100-foot flames on trees and protecting houses.”

Wrestling helps Paz prepare her for that kind of work

Not because the two jobs, wrestling and firefighting, look anything alike, but because both demand discipline.

“There are days that you’re tired, and you don’t want to go out and work,” she said. “It’s the same for wrestling. There are days that I definitely don’t want to show up for practice. But it’s like, that’s my job.”

Paz is one of three Evergreen women’s wrestlers working as firefighters this summer. Teammates Viktoriya Dovhoruka and Ellabelle Taylor are also on fire crews.

Evergreen Head Coach Fan Zhang said Paz helped connect both of them with the opportunity.

Zhang said the idea surprised him at first. He grew up in China and said seeing women take on a job like wildland firefighting was not something he was used to.

“When I hear their idea, I’m feeling kind of, ‘Oh, that’s a hard, hard job for them,'” Zhang said.

Now, he said, he sees something else. He sees the same toughness he sees in the wrestling room.

Zhang said the wrestlers sometimes send him photos from their assignments. He sees smoke. Flames. Mountains burning in the distance.

And he worries.

“I’m really worried about them every single day,” he said. “I try my best every single day. I message them, ‘Hey, how’s it going? Everything’s OK?'”

He also said he is proud of them.

Paz has had to prove herself in another way

Wildland firefighting is still largely dominated by men. In contrast, Paz stands five feet tall. She said telling people she is a college wrestler sometimes earns her a little respect right away. But she still feels like she has to show she belongs.

“I feel like I’m pretty feisty,” Paz said. “I have a lot of drive to just be like, I’m out here to work. I’m not here to do anything else, and I’m not going to be lazy.”

She said that mindset has helped build her confidence.

And firefighting is only one part of her life. Paz is also raising a three-year-old son while going to school. She is from Okanogan County and hopes to eventually earn a degree in child psychology and work with children and families of the Colville Tribes.

Zhang pointed to Paz when he talks with younger wrestlers about responsibility. She juggles school, wrestling, work, and motherhood.

According to Paz, there is no secret to it. She just keeps going.

“My son is my top priority,” she said. “At the end of the day, he comes first.”

She said she plans around his schedule, her classes, and wrestling. Some days are easier than others, but she does not spend much time telling herself something cannot be done.

“I just have to do it,” Paz said.

Her message to other young women, especially young moms, is just as simple.

“Don’t stop because you have a kid,” she said. “My kid just gave me more reason to be better.”

When fire season winds down, Paz and her teammates will head back to the wrestling room.

Different opponent. Same idea. Show up. Do the work. Keep going.