As the new school year has started and new students arrive, sports teams look for students who they think would thrive and students try out for new sports or ones they’ve done all their lives. Girls wrestling has seen a significant amount of new student-athletes arrive, putting a boost in their numbers, which have doubled since last year.
The number of boys has always outnumbered the girls when it comes to this sport, but now these last couple of years have proved different as coaches see more and more participants.
“there has been a significant increase in girls joining wrestling this year,” coach Lynn Sorich said. “Nationwide, high school girls wrestling is the fastest-growing sport.” The expansion of the sport at the middle school level has also raised awareness and boosted participation. In fact, our team has more than doubled in size compared to last year.”
Bringing awareness to girls’ wrestling is also important whether they do it through clubs, school announcements, or starting the sport at a young age. Starting the sport in middle school helps introduce the girls and gives them some experience before they head to competitions.
“When we first started, we would walk around the commons during lunch to recruit and speak with off-season sports teams since wrestling conditioning benefits all activities.” Sorich said, “Coach Townsley, the boys’ coach, also helps with recruiting since he works in the building, and I’m able to talk to girls about joining the team when I sub at West. Additionally, Mr. Gibbs, who just joined West this year, still coaches the girls at Russell, helping to bring girls up through the ranks. Having a familiar face makes a difference. Coach Ferguson is very involved with club wrestling, so he helps promote it at that level as well. I also have two girls in a digital marketing class who run our social media accounts, promoting the sport and helping people learn more about the team and its wrestlers.”
Wrestling has been a hobby for many girls for the last three to four years, but some have just joined to benefit themselves mentally and physically. Doing wrestling in an off-season to another sport also helps them stay in shape, but being able to do it mentally is another challenge.
“What got me into wrestling was that I was in a dark time at the moment, and my friend Kay in gym class thought I would be good at it and that I should try it out at her dad’s wrestling,” senior Ximena Galarza said. “I did end up trying it and liked it so I’ve done it ever since then.”
Many of the girls have been wrestling for up to four years, and some of them have just started this year. However, having family members who wrestle has motivated some to try the sport out and to keep the family tradition.
“My dad and grandpa are still wrestlers today, competing at the Veteran’s and Master’s level; my siblings and I are all involved in wrestling as well!” Wrestling captain Kaitlyn Ferguson said. “I decided to go out for wrestling because I loved the challenge, and how honest of a sport it is. When you put your singlet on and go out to compete, it’s just you, and I love the realness of that.”
While the team continues to grow for the upcoming season that is just around the corner, they prepare for their first tournament, hoping to get a medal at state. With this growing sport, it is never too late to join, even if they don’t have experience the people you meet and the things that you will learn by joining can benefit you in many ways for life during, and after high school.
