CORALVILLE — As Indianola sophomore Siera Becker got her hand raised as an Iowa girls wrestling state champion Friday for the first time in her career, the only thing bigger than her feeling of joy was the tattoo on her right shoulder.
A purple butterfly, surrounded by red roses and accented by a light blue lilac flower graces Becker's shoulder. Each ounce of ink has a distinct meaning for Becker, with the work of art being dedicated to one person who helped her reach new heights Friday.
Her grandmother, Carolyn Becker, passed away a little over two years ago but has remained at the sophomore's side on every step of her wrestling career.
"Everything she loved is on me," Becker said.
"If you see a butterfly, that's her."
Every time Siera Becker has taken the mat over the last nine years, her grandmother has been with her.
Even after moving from the Mount Pleasant, Michigan area to Central Iowa around the time she began her wrestling career, Carolyn Becker remained a constant presence in Siera Becker's life. Despite hundreds of miles between them, Siera Becker's grandmother always found ways to keep up with her.
Through video streaming links sent to her, Carolyn Becker would take time to watch each match. After every event, Siera Becker would get a FaceTime call from her grandma to let her know how proud she was of her.
That same call came no matter the result, win or lose. Siera Becker said her grandma, despite not knowing much about wrestling, always made sure to say how proud she made her. Carolyn Becker was Siera Becker's biggest cheerleader, letting everyone around her know that her granddaughter was an elite wrestler.
"That meant so much to me to know that even though she had no idea what was going on or anything, she still made the time to watch me," Siera Becker said.
While wrestling in the Iowa AAU State Championships in 2021, her grandmother made the journey to watch Siera Becker wrestle. Ultimately, she took fifth and was disappointed with her result. After the tournament, her grandmother, as always, came to tell her how proud she was.
It was then that Siera Becker made Carolyn Becker a promise.
"No, grandma. I'm going to get first for you one year," Becker said.
A year later, Carolyn Becker passed away. Without her grandmother, Siera Becker wanted to quit wrestling altogether and stepped away from the sport for a month and a half. In that time, her father, Steve Becker, remembers his daughter being distant from others as she grieved.
That's when her tattoo came into play, with getting inked as a way to carry on her grandmother's support. Now when she competes, Siera Becker takes quick glances at her shoulder, occasionally reaching to feel that connection.
After getting the tattoo, her desire to wrestle and compete was back.
"It was night and day," Steve Becker said. "It just flipped a switch."
Every time Siera Becker looks to her shoulder, she has a reminder of her grandma's favorite things. The roses are a reminder of the rose bush outside her grandma's house. The blue lilac represents the lilac flowers her grandma would pick outside of Siera Becker's house and the purple butterfly stands something her grandmother told her before she passed away.
"She always told me before she passed, 'If you see a butterfly, that's' her," Siera Becker said.
In her sophomore season, Siera Becker blitzed her way through the competition, finishing the year unblemished in 38 matches to win her first state title. It is the first girls state wrestling title in Indianola program history, winning in bonus-point fashion in all but three matches.
While so many saw the easy side of her season, there have been hard days that pushed her to reach this moment, her mom says.
"No one sees the tough days," said Jesse Becker, Siera's mom. "They all just think it's the easy days, but there's so many more tough days behind the scenes that no one ever sees and experiences. The ones that come out on top are the ones that are working behind the scenes."
It's a historic moment for Indianola and a massive accomplishment for Siera Becker. But more than anything, it's a promise kept to her late grandmother, who she keeps close with the tattoo on her shoulder.
After fulfilling the promise she made four years ago, Siera Becker knows how proud her grandmother would be.
Just like she always has been.
"I know that she knows I got first, she knew that I was going to get it," Becker said.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.
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