BUCYRUS — Overcoming a stigma. Working out aggression. Being part of a family.
Those are among the reasons that Bucyrus High School girls give for choosing to be a part of the school’s first female wrestling team.
“We have six girls who are competing regularly. We started with eight but lost a couple due to the physicality of wrestling and them not being able to compete day in and day out,” head coach Shane Kokensparger said.
Practices are not easy and on the mats every wrestler is treated as an equal.
“The boys will beat on ’em. They are not going to take it easy on them. You’re on the mat. That means that you gotta get beat.”
Recruiting girls
“It got started because it is the fastest growing sport through the OHSAA. I have many girls, being a teacher, that I see maybe fall through the cracks, maybe not doing a sport. So, with the help of (athletic director) Matt Makeever and our assistant coaches, we started reaching out to girls that we wanted to see them become active and grow.”
The goal is to achieve a 25 percent increase in participation over four years.
“This is one way to get kids involved who may not do other sports. Some have done track, and I do have a couple girls who are bowlers, and one is a powerlifter (Karleigh Burling). She’s got a pretty messed up ankle,” Kokensparger said.
The veteran coach believes coaching girls is no different than coaching boys.
“The sport of wrestling, yes, it is designated a boys sport, but the OHSAA is also designating it a girls sport. That is huge. There was a big push about two years ago. Something like get them on the mat, let them wrestle, I forget the hashtag. But it’s a movement that’s been going for about three to four years.”
“I have some girls who are scrappy. I got two sisters who want to battle every day, Chloe and Jayda Pickens. I also have Harper Boggs, a 106-pounder,” he said.
Various perspectives
Boggs got into it after an interest in martial arts and fencing. The junior will settle in at 100 pounds but is trying to gain weight. She competed against boys in the recent 35th Bucyrus Invitational, finishing eighth.
“I do cross country, power lifting and track. Power lifting and wrestling go hand-in-hand with getting stronger and staying fit. I’m working and improving and hope to get better.”
Competing alongside boys is not an issue for Boggs.
“Normally the guys that I wrestle with, they are cool about it. Sometimes it’s a little awkward because of gender. But they treat me as equal.”
Kalie Carr (105 or 110) is one of several sophomores on the team and competes at 106 pounds.
“My boyfriend and my dad thought it would be a good idea to get my anger out,” she said. “The first time was kind of stressful, but a lot of energy coming out of you. My reaction was, ‘Wow. This is fun, exciting and something new.'”
Practices are from 3 to 5:30 p.m. during the week, with work split between the mats and weightlifting.
“It’s been sore, but you just fight through it,” said Carr, who says she isn’t nervous about competing in her first tournament.
“I’m very excited. I didn’t get to wrestle the guys today, but tomorrow (Sunday) is our tournament, and I’m not nervous or intimidated by it.”
Different journeys
Teammates Riley Southard and Karleigh Burling also are ready to tangle with opponents.
“I lost a lot of weight. I got into it to help me with my anger. I am able to take it out on other people that I don’t know,” Southard, a freshman, said.
“Some boys are encouraging us, cheering us on and we do the same thing for them. Some boys aren’t OK with it, but they’ll have to deal with it.”
Southard previously played volleyball and basketball in middle school. She wants to see the program grow.
“I want to stick with it and I’m enjoying it.”
Burling, the lone senior, watched her older brother wrestle.
“I enjoyed watching it growing up and I just never thought about doing it until Coach K asked me,” she said.
“I really enjoy working with people and learning new stuff. It’s really fun. We’re like a big family, really. My struggles are just getting back in shape.”
Learning the various techniques and moves “has been difficult but I’m trying. It’s been fun.”
Burling, who competes as a heavyweight, has changed her diet.
“I still need to cut weight. I’ve cut out pop, sweets, and bread. Now I’ll eat a chicken lettuce wrap, something simple. And no carbs.”
Burling wishes she had gotten into the sport sooner.
“It’s so fun. I would encourage girls in middle school or if you’re a freshman, try it. Just do it. If you like it, you got more years to do it.”
Regarding being a female who wrestles, Burling embraces it.
“People ask me all the time. And I say, ‘Yeah, I am.’ I’m proud of doing it.”
Chloe Pickens started out doing statistics for the Redmen boys team last year.
“It was cool, but then Coach K said he was starting a girls’ wrestling team. I also bowl during the winter season,” she said.
“Bowling is my priority sport. I’m a lot better than last year. I go to bowling three times a week and wrestling twice a week,” Pickens said.
Being physical comes naturally to her.
“Me and Jayda used to duke it out, fight all the time. At first, I didn’t know what I was doing with wrestling. But I’ve been watching practices and having my coaches just guide me through it and trying to learn.”
Pickens said the mental aspect is challenging.
“I’m not worried about the physical part. I just push myself. You can’t just quit; you got to keep going.
“Dalton Barker tells us all the time how it’s all mental and he encourages us. I’m happy the guys are accepting of it and actually encouraging us through it,” Pickens said.
More competition
“Findlay has a big girls national tournament next weekend. They got teams from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, from Washington state. Findlay has 21 girls maybe in the program,” Kokensparger said.
The school will host the 2022 Findlay Invitational Girls High School Tournament (F.I.G.H.T.) with over 50 high school girls wrestling programs from across the country competing Friday and Saturday.
At one time girls wrestling was considered taboo. Few schools had female wrestlers come out for fear of being branded as un-ladylike or not wanting to go against the boys.
“That stigma is gone now,” Kokensparger said. “We have some girls who don’t want to compete with the boys, so we respect that. Inside the wrestling room we make sure we have enough girls to wrestle each other, in case they’re uncomfortable. I have some who don’t care, boy or girl, let’s go out and scrap.”
Girls tournaments are held on Friday and Sunday mainly due to the availability of officials.
“We’re going to get our girls to travel. Our girls will get on a bus and go to Clyde and wrestle in a girls tournament. Next Thursday we go to Liberty-Benton. We’re taking high school, middle school, and girls,” he said.
The middle school program is the next area to focus on developing.
“That’s the area we need to hit the ground running a little more. Getting more girls into the middle school programs, versus starting when they’re freshmen or sophomores.”
Teaching more than wrestling
Wrestling requires discipline and can help mold character.
“It requires them to have accountability and it requires them to maintain punctuality and just understanding the positives and negatives of what can happen if you don’t put forth your best effort.
“We are working hard to evolve them; not so much as into great wrestlers, but into great human beings … getting them more involved and active within the community.”
During the invitational, several of the girls worked the concession area or helped at the scorer’s table.
Some area schools have girls in their boys programs. Carey is the only other Northern 10 Athletic Conference school that has a girls squad, with a handful of participants. Seneca East boasts a few girls.
Ridgedale has just two wrestlers this season, but one is Nya Miller, a senior at 155, who is one of the top female wrestlers in Ohio. She won the Northwest District championship and placed at the state tourney. Miller is a three-time girls state qualifier.
OHSAA adds program
The Ohio High School Athletic Association has announced that its inaugural girls wrestling state tournament in March will be held alongside the three divisions of the boys wrestling state tournament at the Schottenstein Center at The Ohio State University.
“They’re going to share the same stage. That’s huge,” Kokensparger believes.
The state tournament schedule will remain a three-day, five-session event, held Friday through Sunday, March 10-12, 2023, and it will continue to be a double-elimination tournament for the boys and girls. The OHSAA is determining where adjustments need to be made to the time schedule and other aspects of the state tournament, which averages more than 50,000 fans for the weekend event.
The girls will have just two divisions, with Bucyrus in Division II. With fewer participants, the girls will qualify through a one-step, regional tournament to reach the state meet.
“We are very excited for the girls to wrestle in the same environment at the Schottenstein Center that the boys do,” said Doug Ute, OHSAA Executive Director. “We have been working through the logistics of having both state tournaments held alongside each other at the Schott, and we are pleased that it can be done. The excitement and energy will be incredible.”
The Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association had conducted the girls wrestling state tournament since 2020 at Hilliard Davidson High School. In January 2022, the OHSAA announced that girls wrestling and boys volleyball would be added as sanctioned sports beginning with the 2022-23 school year.
State, national numbers
The OHSAA reports there are about 300 schools with at least one female wrestler. There are approximately 1,200 girls that have been assessed (wrestlers require a weight assessment before they can compete) this year.
Iowa has added a girls state tournament this year. Other states have had sanctioned girls programs including, with the year of their sanction, Alaska (2014), California (2011), Hawaii (1998), Tennessee (2015), Texas (1999) and Washington (2007).
In 1990, girls participation numbers nationwide were 112. Today, that number is around 30,000, according to flowrestling.org.
In recent years girls state tournaments have been held in Florida, Colorado, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and Indiana.