Last weekend’s home dual tournament provided a full-circle moment for McHenry senior wrestler Natalie Corona, who was both stunned and thankful to see her family, coaches and teammates on hand to watch and celebrate her 100th career victory with the Warriors.

T-shirts and signs bearing the number “100″ could be seen inside the gymnasium as Corona won all three of her matches and led the Warriors to a first-place finish in the dual tournament. It was an important milestone for Corona, who said eclipsing 100 wins has been her goal since beginning her high school wrestling career.

“I had my whole family, my McHenry Wrestling Club family and all of my teammates there,” Corona said. “I won the match, and then I saw everyone, including my family and my coaches, had ”100″ T-shirts on, which was really funny and amazing. It was great to have all of that support."

A three-time state qualifier who placed fifth as a sophomore, Corona currently owns a 101-16 record over four varsity seasons. She was inspired to set her goal after watching Ruben Melgarejo, a former McHenry wrestler and 100-match winner who has trained and supported Corona, achieve the feat a few years ago.

“I set the goal as soon as I saw the first boy wrestler from our school accomplish that goal,” Corona said. “Between here and club practices, I practiced a ton and I try to practice as much as I can during the week. [Ruben’s] been a huge help over the years. He’s trained me to go down to state, and he’s been there for support.”

Corona returned this year as one of the area’s most talented wrestlers. She’s off to a flawless start, posting a 17-0 record while scoring tournament victories at Hampshire’s Whip-Pur Women’s Classic and the Waukegan Girls Tournament. McHenry is 7-0 in dual matches.

“Natalie’s accountability and leadership roles on this team are unmatched,” McHenry coach James Buss said. “She’s learned how to be coached and how to take criticism from her peers and move forward. When things go wrong, who do I look at? I look at myself first before I look outward. She’s done a really great job at that. She’s been a great leader for some of these underclassmen.”

Perhaps even more impressive than her undefeated start is that Corona has maintained a perfect record while pushing through a painful elbow injury she suffered last spring. Diagnosed with a torn UCL in her right elbow after landing awkwardly on it during a match, Corona didn’t undergo surgery in the offseason and now wears a brace on the injured elbow.

She keeps winning anyway.

“I tried as fast as I could to get stronger, and this year, my main goal is just to have fun,” said Corona, who missed seven months and has been doing physical therapy since fully rupturing her UCL. “It stinks to lose, but when you focus on getting better, you’ll face more wins, and that’s been my main mentality this season.”

As Corona enters the second half of her senior season, her goals include returning to the state tournament for a fourth and final time. After taking fifth as a sophomore, Corona went 1-2 over three matches, but didn’t place as a junior. Corona, who will wrestle at Millikin University, has dedicated herself to wrestling, even giving up soccer, a sport that runs in the family.

“It showed me that girls wrestling is growing and there’s always someone who’s going to be better than me,” Corona said. “I need to work hard, and I did a lot over the preseason and the offseason. I stopped playing soccer and I focused on wrestling for a while. I definitely saw improvement until I couldn’t wrestle for a little bit.”

A McHenry native who started wrestling in sixth grade, Corona went 24-5 with third-place regional and fourth-place sectional finishes as a sophomore. As a junior, Corona stepped up despite a larger workload, finishing 36-7 while winning the first regional title of her career and placing third at sectionals. Corona is the second placer and the highest-placing girls wrestler in school history.

“When Natalie walked in as a freshman, we had three girls on the team,” Buss said. “We did a free camp, and I asked her to try and get as many girls to come out as she could. We had about 40 to 50 McHenry girls show up. ... When you look at our team now, we’re a team of about 30 to 40 girls, which is something you don’t see at many programs. It’s all credited to her. She started getting the first and second girl, and they started bringing their friends.”

The regional title and fifth-place state finish were career highlights for Corona, whose double-leg takedowns, arm bars and up-tempo wrestling have been pivotal to her success at McHenry. More importantly, however, Corona’s mental growth has her in a better mind space this season. After facing doubts early in her career, Corona has recaptured her passion for the sport.

“I have a great support system, and we’re all a big family,” Corona said. “I try to keep the mentality of going out there and having fun because when I didn’t, I faced a lot of losses and I stressed myself out. This year, I’m having fun. ... I try to push the pace, I try to get them tired and I like to be the first to shoot. I kind of take offense to being shot on. That fires me up and gets me ready to go.”

One of four girls in her family, Corona grew up with three older sisters, two of whom (Evelyn and Jocelyn) played soccer at McHenry. Her sisters, including her oldest sister, Carolina, and her father, Mike, fueled her competitive spirit and have been major role models in and out of sports.

“Growing up, we would always compete with each other,” Corona said. “People always ask me if I had a brother who helped me start wrestling, but I’d tell them no because I had sisters that beat me up a lot. My parents loved watching us do sports. ... They didn’t buy me my first wrestling shoes because they thought I would quit. I quit a lot of sports growing up, but look at me six years later.”

The only wrestler in her immediate family, Corona trained with the McHenry Wrestling Club prior to high school. Her initial desire to take up the sport sprang from an interest in boxing. Corona’s cousin Nick Tover, a boxer and wrestler who was on hand to help celebrate her 100th win, was an inspiration for her.

“I joined with a few friends, and eventually those friends quit, but I didn’t because I loved the sport,” Corona said. “My club coach always tells a story of when I was at a tournament and I had blood all over my face, but I told him I love it and this is what I want to do. Looking back at those moments, I’m glad I stuck with it.”