Woodbridge Highschool is the first high school to have a girls’ wrestling team in the county. Woodbridge has had only one wrestling team for a long time, but recently they decided that it was time for a change.
When you think of a high school wrestling team, you usually think of boys… not so much of girls, even though it is a coed sport. But since there are more female middle schoolers getting into wrestling, there has been a growth in females in the sport!
Head Coach Stanely mentions, “With how these 2 years have gone by, we knew girls wrestling was going to explode.” The coaches got together and decided to take it upon themselves and recruit girls because they think all athletes should be able to participate. They ended up with 14 girls on the roster last year and one of them placed at states! This year they have 11 girls on the roster and are excited for their prospects of a successful season.
One of the most important things a team must have is a way to handle losses. Coach Stanely puts them in high-level competition matches to help them because he thinks that this is the most efficient strategy for growth. He states, “Our goal as a coaching staff and as a team is to prevent them from having such an easy season so they’re undefeated until they reach post-season. We’re always trying to simulate our post season.” His strategy is to have his team participate in harder competitions in-season, than they would be facing post season. So, once they reach post season, they would be prepared.
An inspirational point he says is, “A loss doesn’t reflect your ability or your character, it’s simply just one data point on your path as a developing athlete.” The coaches will support their athletes in any way they can, this means if one of their athletes has a technical, mental, or physical weakness they try to help them improve on it. They make sure the athletes understand even if they have multiple losses in a row, the coaches are there to help them through it. Although wrestling is considered an individual sport, they consider themselves a team that is also family and wants nothing but the best for each other. They push one another with hopes that they all show the best of their ability on the mats. Two good examples of this are athletes Sarina Gunna and Alessandra Morales, a junior and sophomore on the girls’ varsity team. Both are great team members that help the team out when in need
They both express the amount of joy they have for the sport when interviewed. For Sarina, she’s only been wrestling for about 14 months. but within 4 or 5 months, she became one of the best girls of her weight class in the state. She also made the VHSL states tournament and won 5th place and has gone on to qualify for nationals in a short amount of time!
A tough challenge she faced was at the state tournament. This was because it was her first-year wrestling, she said that she was nervous. But with her team encouraging her as well as her own determination, her nerves didn’t hold her down, instead it motivated her to do the best she could! Sarina stated, “One of my memorable victories was at Fargo North Dakota nationals because since it was freestyle wrestling, I got to throw a girl!” Sarina didn’t let the amount of time she had been wrestling stop her from enjoying the sport.
Alessandra is described by her coach as someone who just grinds and is naturally confident. She practiced nonstop and ended up wrestling for the boys’ team in the post season! When she competed in the girls state tournament, her losses went with her to the state championships and gave her a drive to do even better. Her bracket in state champ had 42 girls, but the only 2 people she lost to were the state champ and the one who placed 4th. Even though she felt like she could’ve done better, it shows how much she improved as an athlete. It doesn’t stop there though; she is known for constantly trying to improve herself. Morales says, “I mentally blacked out and threw a girl which led to me pinning her in the first 30 seconds, everyone was hyped because I was the first win of the tournament”. Everyone’s first match always scares them a bit, but since she won her first match so quickly, she got a major confidence boost.
So far, they have had one scrimmage and for most of them it was their first wrestling match, which makes the girls nervous. But that didn’t hold them down, instead it led them to win a ton of their matches because of their dedication, strength, and amount of love they have for the sport. An upcoming tournament they have is next Saturday so come and cheer them on!
