MYA Wrestling awards 2nd Annual Kiki Walker Scholarship

The Merrimack Youth Wrestling Program celebrated the end of its twelfth season at a banquet on April 5th, 2017. One highlight of the evening was the awarding of the second annual Kiki Walker Memorial Scholarship to Merrimack High School Senior, Adam Black.

The scholarship is a $500 scholarship awarded by the Merrimack Youth Association's Wrestling Program to a graduating high school senior. To be eligible, the graduate must have wrestled for a full season in at least one of the Merrimack wrestling programs, MYA Youth Wrestling, Merrimack Middle School Wrestling or Merrimack High School Wrestling, and be pursuing a degree or technical certificate at any accredited institution of higher learning.

The scholarship honors the memory of Kierra "Kiki" Walker, a girl who tragically passed away in 2012 at age eleven. Kiki found confidence and camaraderie through the sport of wrestling as part of the Merrimack Youth Wrestling team. The Merrimack Wrestling community celebrates her life by helping other wrestlers achieve their dreams.

In Black's scholarship essay, he noted that the physical aspects of wrestling were what initially attracted him to the sport but that the mental development was equally enriching. He stated, “The most important thing we have as humans is knowing who we are and how we treat others. … Unlike the more traditional team-based sports, when it’s just the two of you [on the wrestling mat], there is no one you can blame for your own shortcomings. Because of this, I’ve also developed a better sense of sportsmanship due to the mutual respect that I had for each opponent I faced because I know what they had to go through in order to win a single match.”

Black plans to pursue a degree in Criminal Justice in the Fall. He hopes to apply the lessons he’s learned from wrestling to his pursuits in life.

Photo 1: Father, Kenny Walker (right), and Mother, Trish Leavitt (left), award Adam Black (center) a $500 scholarship named for their daughter on behalf of MYA Wrestling

Photo 2: Kierra "Kiki" Walker