Posted on 01/21/2018 4:12:25 AM PST by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA — For years, wrestling was always seen as a men’s sport.
But that’s no longer the case. Girls across Cochise County are breaking that stereotype one half nelson at a time — and doing it well.
Lyla Pacheco is a freshman at Buena High School and a junior varsity team member on the school’s wrestling squad. She is one of three girls on a team made up of more than 50 players.
Though she’s a freshman, Pacheco is no newcomer to the sport. She started her wrestling career in junior high school because she said she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps.
“He did wrestling when he was a kid and when I tried it I really liked it,” she said.
When she finished junior high school, joining Buena’s team was the logical next step. While she knows she’s making a mark in the community for being one of the few girls on the team, Pacheco said she didn’t join the team for that reason — wrestling is more than an after-school pastime; it’s a passion.
“The thrill of three minutes of wrestling — it really pushes me to discipline myself,” Pacheco said. “You have to exercise out of practice and we practice almost everyday. It’s a hardcore sport and it’s really brought me to discipline (myself).”
Giuliana Duncanson, a sophomore on the wrestling team, joined the junior varsity team with her friend, Bryttany Gurule. Before the season kicked off this fall, Duncanson said she had never stepped foot on a wrestling matt. She thought the sport looked like fun and, before she knew it, Duncanson was hooked.
But, she got injured early on. At Duncanson’s first match of season, she dislocated her elbow wrestling one of boys. Since then, she’s had to sit on the sidelines and watch her teammates take the mat. She doesn’t want to let that stop her, though. Once she’s cleared to play, Duncanson wants to return next season and make a name for herself wrestling at Buena.
“I really like the sport and I want to come back next year,” Duncanson said.
Like Pacheco, Duncanson didn’t join the team to prove anything to anyone. Instead, she wanted to participate in fun and engaging sport, adding to her list of hobbies that include volleyball and basketball.
“I like it, it’s a lot of fun,” Duncanson said. “I wanted to try something new.”
They aren’t the only girls to take to the mat with the boys. In fact, they are part of a movement of girls joining male-dominated sports. Girls across the country are joining teams and changing much of what modern society thinks about high school wrestling.
But girls in wrestling is nothing new.
In reality, women have been wrestling for well over 500 years, according to a PBS report. Girls wrestled each other in ancient Sparta and in some parts of Africa. One tribe in West Africa used wrestling as a marriage engagement — the champion boy fighter would marry the champion girl.
And there are girls’ leagues and teams popping up in high school divisions across the U.S. However, until local schools garner enough interest to fill an entire roster, the girls will play on the boys’ team.
But the girls aren’t treated any differently at Buena, said wrestling coach Mark Dannels. He’s been leading the team for the last eight years and said the training among all teams members is the same — there are no modifications for either girls or boys.
“We try to excel them just like we do the boys,” Dannels said. “They are athletes and my job is to help them succeed as student athletes.”
Dannels said he would like to see more girls try out for wrestling to fill a full girls team. For now, when the get the chance, Duncanson and Pacheco spar with other girls at tournaments.
For Rick Ross, Douglas High School wrestling coach, having an integrated team just proves how far girls have come in sports.
Right now, Ross has seven girls on his wrestling team, but he’s had 11 in years past. Some of his athletes have gone on to win scholarships and wrestle on college teams across the country.
But it wasn’t always that way. When he first started coaching in 2005, he didn’t have any girls on his team. Once the first few started trying out in 2009, they inspired other girls to get involved.
“It’s helped a lot of young women and it shows them the opportunity,” Ross said. “They see what’s happening — really these girls are all go-getters.”
As a coach, Ross is excited to see how girls change the game of wrestling. Having them in the game will change the future of the sport, he said.
If I could have wrestled with girls I would most assuredly have joined the wrestling team when I was in junior high school...
;-)
Titty grab.
These days you might be wrestling something that self-identifies as a girl.
My guess is that you would not want to wrestle with the girls on the wrestling team.
And a shocker...
I started photographing high school and collegiate sports 20 years ago. There were girls and women wrestling back then. This not exactly news.
In junior high, girls get their growth spurt earlier than boys, so for a while they are bigger than boys their age. That’s no longer the case in high school. Boys then become MUCH stronger than girls of the same age and weight.
You need to see the TV show The Babysitter, ...... that’s an act of desperation.
Married to a wrestling coach and mom to a high school wrestler.
We’ve always told our boys that they have our permission to forfeit to a girl and when my husband was a high school coach he told his team the same thing (not an issue in college).
What I added to my sons was that if they chose to wrestle a girl then don’t hold back one bit. Be as rough and aggressive as you can be, if she wants to be there then make her know what it takes.
2nd that. Son was wrestling in middle school / high school almost that long ago, and there were a couple of girls from other schools at the tournaments.
Yeh just wait until they start accusing the boys of sexual harassment on the wrestling mats.
You would be wrong. My son wrestles and any of the girls I’ve seen wrestle, except for one, I would have wanted to wrestle at his age.
A boy and a girl wrestling is usually called foreplay.
“they have our permission to forfeit to a girl...”
Have your permission? Seriously? If you kids were old enough to participate in sports, they should’t have needed your permission to win, lose, or quit.
We had one girl on our wrestling team and she was really hot. The best part was that the wrestlers washed their gear more often after she signed up.
Can picture it now....He pulled a slick reversal and pinned her - but good......
How I pinned your mother.
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