What started with only 347 girls in 2022 has nearly tripled to 898 participants this year according to the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, showing just how fast girls wrestling is growing.
The past 10 years have seen a dramatic change in wrestling, mainly for women. In 2020, OSSAA officially sanctioned girls wrestling as a varsity sport.
“We just competed in the Junior High State Tournament. The girls division had more wrestlers than ever,” Head Coach Marty Monigold said.
Beyond enjoying wrestling as a sport, he hopes the girls will gain the necessary skills to defend themselves.
“I have two daughters that I would love to see them wrestle and be able to handle themselves,” Monigold said.
With stigmas around girls wrestling some girls find it challenging to break the gender norm. However, those who do have found a great community.
As girls wrestling continues to develop and grow, breaking past the stigma and encouraging more participation takes time.
“Here it’s so new and different that it’s definitely hard to get girls to branch out into it,” Thompson said. “I’m not trying to be different. I just enjoy the sport, and I enjoy what it’s trying to accomplish, and I just enjoy my team.”
Although it was a slight adjustment adding girls to the wrestling team, they were welcomed with respect and quickly became an important part of the program.
“It took maybe a month of adjusting for the entire team, and then it was normal to have girls,” Thompson said.
For freshman Hazel Vinson, wrestling has improved her strength both physically and mentally. Balancing school, practices and competition hasn’t always been easy, but Thompson explained that wrestling has also taught her life lessons.
“I have learned discipline, keep doing things even when I don’t want to, or even if they’re hard. I also learned to manage my time so much better because I have practices and stuff everyday,” Thompson said.
Beyond the life lesson, Thompson said she has also found a community in the team.
“It helped me grow relationships with people that I never would have met if I hadn’t wrestled,” Thompson said. “It’s really helped me learn more about myself, and build a better relationship with other adults in the school.”
Starting something new can be intimidating, but for Vinson, stepping onto the wrestling mat turned out to be a surprisingly rewarding experience.
“Do it,” Vinson said. “If you don’t like it, you don’t have to keep doing it, but I never expected to be a wrestler and then when I joined the wrestling team it felt like one big family.”
