Breaking Barriers
For many years when people thought about wrestling, they usually pictured boys on a mat, in a high school gym, sweating and battling. Girls were rarely part of that picture. Being part of this movement has shaped who I am. Looking back at where I started compared to standing on the podium at the state tournament, I feel an overwhelming sense of pride and ownership in this sport.
But over the last decade, women’s wrestling has grown from something people overlooked into one of the fastest growing sports in the United States.
More girls are stepping onto the mat than ever before, schools are creating girls only teams, colleges adding programs, and national and state organizations are finally giving female wrestlers the recognition they deserve. As someone who has been wrestling for five years, won two state titles, traveled across the country for national tournaments, and often been one of the only girls on my team, I’ve watched that growth happen from both the outside and the inside.
Women’s wrestling has not always had the opportunities it has today. For a long time, girls who wanted to wrestle usually had to compete against boys because girls divisions weren’t taken seriously. Sometimes girls divisions didn’t even exist. When I started in middle school I had to wrestle in the boys division because they didn’t recognize girls wrestling at all.
Even though women’s wrestling became an Olympic sport in the 2004 Summer Olympics, it still took years for high schools to start recognizing girls wrestling as its own sport. Recently State athletic associations across the country now sanction girls wrestling championships, and colleges continue adding women’s wrestling programs. Organizations like USA Wrestling and the Wrestle Like A Girl have helped bring more attention and opportunities.
Even with all of this progress, being a girl in wrestling can still feel like stepping into a room where you have to prove yourself before you even touch the mat. I know that because I’ve lived it.
I started wrestling five years ago, not really knowing how much it would change me. At first, I was just learning the basic stances and how exhausting live wrestling could be. I just remember after my first day reminiscing how uncomfortable my body felt.
Because I was usually one of the only girls in the room. Sometimes literally the only one. I trained with boys every day, I often just kept my head down and worked the hardest I could to prove I belonged. But wrestling has a way of showing you who you really are when you’re tired, uncomfortable, and under pressure. Over time, those hard practices turned into confidence.
Today, I’m a two time state champion. That still feels kind of crazy to say sometimes, especially when I remember being the younger wrestler who just hoped to survive practice. Winning state didn’t happen because of one perfect season. It came from years of early mornings, weight cuts, tough losses, and learning how to come back stronger.
One of the biggest parts of my journey has been traveling across the country for national tournaments. Competing outside my home state opened my eyes to just how fast women’s wrestling is growing. In those massive arenas, I’ve stood alongside hundreds of girls from every corner of the United States each bringing their own unique styles and competing in diverse weight classes, but all sharing the exact same fierce mindset. Walking into those venues, you can actively feel the culture shift. The sport is changing right before our eyes, and it is becoming something incredibly powerful.
Being one of the only girls on my wrestling team has also shaped who I am. There were times when people underestimated me before a match because they saw a girl. There were times I felt like I had to work twice as hard to earn respect. But instead of letting that discourage me, it pushed me.
The growth of women’s wrestling matters for bigger reasons than medals or titles. It shows that sports don’t belong to one gender. It shows younger girls that toughness and leadership can look different than what people expect. I’ve watched women’s wrestling grow, but I’ve also realized I’m part of that growth too. Every practice, every match, every state title, and every national tournament has made me part of something bigger than myself.
For any girl looking at a sport historically defined by men and wondering if she belongs, the answer is already written in the sweat, the state titles, and the history being made every single day. We can do it too not because we are trying to prove something to the world, but because the strength was already there, just waiting for the whistle to blow.
