Literally, the Beaty middle-schooler is currently in Tulsa, Oklahoma, representing Pennsylvania Girls National 14U Wrestling program at the Junior National Duals.

Figuratively, just try to slow her down. It’s an impossible task.

“Jenna has always been active, even at 3 or 4 we could see her being athletic and competitive with her three sisters,” said her father, Keith. “She has to win every race, win every game … even now in school, she wants the highest grades and highest test scores in her class. She has natural athletic abilities and can be a great athlete at anything. She lacks a little in the effort department, but is growing stronger in that area by the day. She plays basketball for Lisa Lavan on a traveling team and also played on the seventh- and eighth-grade undefeated team at Beaty as a seventh-grader. She is fun to watch and we have many parents that come up and tell us how they love to watch her play.

“She did track this season for the first time and had very good results for not being able to train because of an elbow injury. She has been wrestling since kindergarten and we put her in it just for exercise over the winter months. She became good at it and is a three-time district champion and has competed in the state championships three times also, with the most recent being a second-place finish at states. She wrestled two matches this year for junior high against boys and won one with a pin and lost one by decision. She has had to work harder wrestling than anyone else because she was a girl and was treated differently by kids saying I won’t practice with her or I don’t want to wrestle her because she is a girl. You figure after seven years in the same program this would not happen, but it does. … She also started competitive cheer this year and also — with no training — ran the Turkey Trot 5K this year in a time of just over 27 minutes, which is impressive. It is exciting to watch her play any sport and we travel to all of them.”

Photo submitted to Times Observer Currently wrestling in Tulsa, Oklahoma at 93 lbs., Beaty Warren Middle School’s Jenna Kophazy is as active as it gets.

Phew. A person would get tired just reading all the sports Jenna is involved in.

But going into eighth grade, she doesn’t have any plans to drop any sports.

Jenna’s “hard work and her dedication to getting better every day” is what most impressed one of her wrestling coaches, Toby Williams.

“I plan to just work extra hard to catch up on all necessary work, so that it will all pay off in the end,” said Jenna. “1. Basketball. 2. Wrestling. 3. Cheerleading. I would rank it this way because basketball is one I’ve been doing for a long time and the one I just got most attached to. I would rank wrestling second because it is fun, but it is also a lot of hard work and dedication you have to put in. And cheerleading would go last because I just started it, so it’s not really up as high as the other ones. I just got to find its true value.”

A girl has a right to change her mind.

Photo submitted to Times Observer Jenna Kophazy’s father, Keith, says his daughter is “finally coming out of her shell.”

“I do plan to keep trying to get more girls involved so that they can see the true power of wrestling,” said Jenna. “The hardest part for me is doing wrestling where there aren’t many girls involved, but the best part is showing up a boy who might think girls aren’t allowed to wrestle.

“I am very proud of myself because I can tell that I’ve gotten stronger and learned a lot that others might not know,” she said. “At first, I wanted to give up because I was the only girl, but my parents told me to keep going, which eventually led for me to be one of the best in our city.”

She’s getting noticed where it counts.

“She is a great wrestler and is finally coming out of her shell,” said Keith. “She has made great strides with not a lot of local interest in her career. She trained with the coaches of Sheffield this past season and they have brought out the best of her to date. As a youth, she had to wrestle boys the whole season even making it through to districts in the boys division her first year. The next year, she wrestled boys all season and wrestled the girls divisions at district and states. Being the champion, winning three out of the four years with COVID taking away the chance for four straight years. Besides the school meets, we now only travel to select girls tournaments. She doesn’t have a lot of support from her fellow male wrestlers on her team, but it has been growing every year. If you have time, watch her play sports some time, it is truly an exciting thing.”

Jenna is proud of her accomplishments. And should be.

Photo submitted to Times Observer Jenna Kophazy’s father, Keith, says his daughter is “finally coming out of her shell.”

“My basketball teammates say that it is very impressive that I can do the things I can do, because they know that to be one of two girl wrestlers in Warren is very impressive,” she said. “The other one is my sister, Sky.”

Jenna sets a tremendous example.

“Jenna is a loving child, especially with younger kids,” said her father. “She has big patience for them. She is very outgoing and has volunteered for many community service projects when she’s had spare time. She is tough on the outside, but very caring on the inside when you can break through her shell. She always wants to be the first in line and the first one done. She is constantly going a hundred miles an hour all day long.”

Now, with practices all week and her 14U competition Friday and Saturday with team Pennsylvania, she can focus on wrestling. But she can also juggle!

“She has also made merit honor roll every marking period at school and just was tested and passed the test for honors math last week,” said Keith. “She has also been in several plays at the Struthers Library Theatre. The best one was when she played Brumbly the elf. It’s on Google!

“Jenna has three sisters at home, so one-on-one time is minimal in our house,” he said. “We still get a ‘I love you’ when she leaves for school every day. I work flipping houses, and she often comes and helps me so we can spend some time together. She has put on roofs, insulated, and even sided our garage at home with her sister because they were worried about their dad being up on a ladder. She is funny and entertaining (she has a YouTube channel), and lots of people love her, but I’m her biggest fan.

“Don’t let the toughness fool you, she is super sweet,” said Keith.

Jenna is beginning to understand her impact on wrestling and on those around her.

“We are also opening a new wrestling facility in downtown Warren where her and her sister will spend a lot of time trying to promote girls wrestling to other girls in the area,” said Keith, “and give them a space that will help them be a little more comfortable.”