A light shines down on the mat, the crowd is chanting and athletes are being pinned down to the floor. This is not a scene in Fight Club, but a girls wrestling match in the South Gym. Girls wrestling has become one of the fastest growing sports in the nation and the York program began its inaugural season last semester.
Girls have competed on the boys wrestling team in years prior, including Claire Kelton who competed during the 2023-2024 season. Kelton’s participation on the team last year was a large factor in establishing the girls program.
“I’ve been involved in wrestling for three years now,” Kelton said. “I wrestled for York last year and was the only girl, so I tried to recruit a lot of people for this year so that we were able to get a full team.”
Since Kelton started wrestling in middle school, the sport has enabled her to become more disciplined and has allowed her to make new friends. While Kelton had a great deal of experience going into the team, introducing the sport to the rest of the team came with some initial challenges.
“Wrestling in Illinois is a very historic sport,” Head Coach Tom Price said. “Taking a step back and introducing this sport to a group of girls, I think that’s been the biggest challenge. You’re starting from scratch and kind of building a love for one of the hardest sports in the state.”
Price has been a part of the Elmhurst community for a number of years. He volunteered with the boys team in past seasons and has served various roles throughout the district. When the opportunity came to lead the girls program he jumped at the chance to introduce this sport to a new group of athletes.
“A big part is just understanding what wrestling is,” Price said. “This sport is a very awkward sport at first, but once you get the hang of it it becomes a little bit more natural.”
The main objective for this season is to make sure the girls feel comfortable and confident in competing. One of the ways athletes are growing through the emotional and physical discomfort is by recognizing the sport for what it is. Athletes have benefitted from embracing some of the things that could be seen as disparaging. The more obvious development has been physical strength.
“The sport takes a lot of dedication and a lot of grit,” senior Clara Fitzer said. “Practices are extremely difficult, more than other sports I’ve tried, but honestly, self-improvement makes it better. You can see yourself growing stronger, getting faster and working harder.”
One of the other things athletes have to be aware of is the mentality needed for the sport. Wrestling is an emotionally taxing sport and requires athletes to be emotionally prepared before, during and after a match. Trying something new in high school can be daunting, especially in such a competitive atmosphere. Girls feel pressured to quickly catch up to their more experienced opponents.
“It’s more of a mental thing for me,” sophomore Charlie Dolan said. “Losing a match really sucks, but you learn so much more from losing a match than winning a match. Especially when you verse girls who have been wrestling longer than you.”
Athletes have been working through these initial challenges with the help of Price and their fellow teammates. While this adaptation takes place during practices and meets, another set back threatens to infiltrate the program from the outside.
“I’ve definitely gotten some weird looks when I said that I’m on the girls wrestling team,” Fitzer said. “Some people are like ‘that’s totally badass’ and others think it’s kind of odd.”
While girls wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, there are still barriers preventing the development of individual programs. The unconventional nature of the spirit leaves athletes combating both the initial discomfort of the hands-on competition, but also the mixed reactions from peers outside of the program.
“With it being a brand new sport for girls, the awareness isn’t there yet,” Price said. “Some people are a little bit uncomfortable with it. It creates some awkward situations and we’re growing through them.”
However, much like the physical and emotional challenges that come with the sport, being a part of a more niche program has its benefits as well. Girls have gained a sense of confidence from stepping out of their comfort zone on a social level.
“I think that wrestling has made me a more confident person,” Fitzer said. “Being part of something more unconventional, I’ve grown really comfortable with that. “
As the team continues its postseason run, the athletes and coaches look forward to continuing growth inside the program. The things that onlookers may view as drawbacks, are the same factors that have allowed athletes to develop in meaningful ways.
“It’s really helped me become a more disciplined person,” Dolan said. “It’s helped me become a mentally and physically stronger person. I think knowing that I am getting better every day helps me push through.”
Now that Price has achieved his initial goal for this season, making sure the are girls comfortable and confident on the mat, he looks forward to building off of that introduction period. Now that the program has built strength on the inside, the coaches and athletes hope to welcome new members to the sport in the upcoming years.
“For me the most rewarding part of wrestling, especially now, is seeing other girls doing it and knowing that I have been able to help open the door for so many other great athletes to join,” Kelton said.
With the recent NCAA DI ruling making girls wrestling a scholarship sport, the future is looking bright for not just the York program, but the sport as a whole.
“My hope for the future is that it just continues this upward trajectory in terms of participation and awareness,” Price said.
