Ever since senior, Ryah Wurman, girls wrestling captain, started wrestling when she was a freshman, she’s participated in a variety of wrestling camps.
When she first attended camp, Wurman said it was fun to be around kids her age, but now she’s seeing people ranging from really little kids to seniors like her.
“It’s not that big of a sport, and it’s definitely growing a lot,” Wurman said. “I think it’s cool that I’m a part of that. Wrestling in general is paving a path for newer people.”
Although it’s an individual sport, Wurman said having a team that pushes and supports her allows her to be the best athlete she can be.
“The coaches are really trying to push the culture into being one, and I think the girls team has done a good job of sticking with that,” Wurman said.
Wurman said she struggled with other sports in the past, causing her to doubt her athleticism. Although she said wrestling has the misconception of being weird, she’s glad she gave it a shot.
“You don’t need experience to join it or do a good job of teaching or helping out,” Wurman said. “If you’re even vaguely interested in it you should definitely try it.”
From watching both of her cousins participate in wrestling, Da’Ja Dailey, freshman, started to participate in open mats in September and is now on the wrestling team.
Dailey has enjoyed wrestling, especially the environment of the wrestling team, and feels that her teammates are supportive.
“If you ever mess up they’re like ‘It’s okay, you can do it again’,” Dailey said.
Dailey said wrestling overall has taught her to stay more hydrated and has helped her build good habits.
“It’s taught me how to exercise and be healthy,” Dailey said.
Lisa Nieder, administrative assistant in the Activities Office, said girls wrestling did not become its own team until five years ago. However, after girls formed their own team, she has seen a lot more girls join.
“I think it’s definitely emerging and continuing to grow because there’s more awareness of it,” Nieder said.
Nieder specifically likes that the team is willing to take students who have never before and teach them from scratch.
“Before, it was a little bit intimidating to be mixed in but I think girls are becoming more aware that it’s an option and that it’s a sport that you can take up brand new in high school,” Nieder said.
This year, the team has a new coach, Mitch Lefkowitz, who is also the Activities Director at Rockwood Summit High School, and a long-time wrestling coach.
Though Nieder said it’s usually better to have a coach for a team who’s also on staff, she doesn’t feel that having a coach off campus is going to affect the team’s performance.
“I think the culture is great,” Nieder said. “We have coaches that are very enthusiastic and want it to be successful.”
