Thursday, October 1, 2026
Bellmore’s youngest prodigy wrestler, Taylor Brock, 15, is a student at Mepham High School.
For the past few years, Taylor has come out on top of the county championships, places highly on state levels, and qualified for nationals. Following another season of victory, she is looking forward to continuing her progress in wrestling throughout the next school year.
“I hit my 30 wins up at the state tournament this year,” she said. “I’ve been wrestling for about like three and a half years… the first year, eighth grade, I became a county champ, and I qualified for the state tournament. Then the next year I went ninth grade, I became a two-time county champ, where I also again qualified for the state tournament.”
Experienced in both wrestling and Brazilian jiu jitsu, Taylor’s athletic career began half her lifetime ago, where she was one of the top practitioners in the nation in 2024 and 2025.
“I’ve been doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu since I was like around like seven years old, so I feel like had that mat experience with wrestling too,” she said. “Then I really started getting into the wrestling, and when I went into middle school, I was like, I know a little bit about wrestling and I want to like increase my knowledge in this area. I started practicing it more and more, and I grew to like the sport a lot.”
For young people, athletic programs offer an important outlet to meet new peers and develop their character in new ways.
“It allowed me to meet a bunch of new people all across the island, upstate, different states, compete with other schools, become friends with other people, good competition,” she said. “I like to know that I’m getting better each day and growing in my strength and my technique as a person, and just see how high I can go with my limits.”
With the support of her parents, Glen and Rose, Taylor actively volunteers for Chamber of Commerce of the Bellmores events, including street fairs, parades and various other programs.
Of her athletic career, Glen remembered the early days of her growth.
“I think it’s great,” he said. “I love to watch her compete. It’s amazing, it’s exciting…
“She does her own training with her coaches, (but) I trained her when she was young.”
Rose has supported Taylor’s goals on and off the mat, always eager to see what happens at the next match.
“No matter how many of them we watch, it’s always like the first time,” she said. “I’m recording, my hands are always shaking, it’s very exciting to watch, especially because you know she puts a lot of work into it.
“We’re very proud of her,” she continued. “It takes a lot, and she gets it done. She’s got a lot of time ahead of her to continue, and she’s just getting better and better.”
