One sport is on the rise in Elmore County, and it just finished its first year as an AHSAA-sanctioned sport: girls' wrestling.
Previously if you were a female athlete who sought to take to the mat, your resources were limited. Of course, there were teams across the state who had female wrestlers while other opportunities came outside of high school organized sport. Even so, there was still a probability where girl wrestlers had no choice but to compete against boy wrestlers.
Now, that is not the case. Last year, Alabama became the 42nd state to sanction girls wrestling as a championship sport alongside flag football.
Tallassee wrestling coach John Mask saw a significant turnout for his school especially. However, there are still hurdles to overcome with the sport.
“We had girls like, I want to say we had 20 sign up, which was great,” Mask said. “There's still a lot of parents that may be reluctant or don't know about it, but I think this year, a lot of people come in, watching it, seeing how they're not wrestling boys anymore, with just girls versus girls, and seeing the sport. I think we're going to really see the numbers rise.”
It's the exposure to the sport that will pay dividends, especially seeing someone being successful at it. Look no further than Wetumpka’s Julianna Eldridge for example — not only has she been crowned a two-time state champion but she is currently ranked amongst the best in the nation. Eldridge is ranked 30th in the country in her weight class as just a sophomore in high school.
“She's great for what this sport is trying to do and continues to grow,” Wetumpka wrestling coach Josh Highland said. “It shows that girls can be successful in this sport and that it's just awesome that she's a part of this program, and I get to be a part of it and watch her continuously help this sport grow.”
Wrestling in its entirety is different from most. There is a team aspect like most of the other AHSAA-sanctioned sports, but it mostly focuses on the individual. That aspect alone gives any wrestler valuable life lessons according to Mask.
“I think it's the greatest sport ever, because you have a family and a team, but also you're out there individually, one on one when you wrestle, so there's nobody to help you,” Mask said. “In other sports, you get a flag in football, and you're holding the whole team back up. (Wrestling) to me teaches character, discipline, work ethic more than any other sport.”
Both Mask and Highland see the sport growing more throughout the years with the eventual format emulating similar to how the boys wrestling championships are set up, but the challenge now is getting more girls to try out.
Each has taken to the hallways of their respective schools to recruit more girls to join, with Highland focusing on the youth programs to promote the sports at a young age.
“It starts with the youth, now I'm going into the elementary school kids,” Highland said. “I'm trying to get more girls from elementary because it starts there. I have a daughter that's nine, she's always been interested because her brothers wrestle, and so now I'm trying to get her to wrestle, and but now seeing her daddy coach a girl wrestle to a state championship, I'm hoping that helps and see that it can be done and that a girl can do it.”
Highland encourages anyone interested, whether it be parents or student-athletes themselves, to ask questions about joining. He knows the more answers he can provide will only result in more people coming out to compete.
Mask hinted the growth of the sport can even make waves in the realm of collegiate athletics. Where it stands now, Huntingdon College is the only university in Alabama that offers women's wrestling, and just last week Tallassee’s very own Alli Smith signed her commitment and became the first girl in school history to wrestle at the collegiate level. As the trend of girl wrestlers increases at the high school level, the effect will carry over to college.
“I think you're going to see the growth at the collegiate level with boys and girls,” Mask said. “I think you'll see more girls getting a chance to go to college and wrestle as a result of the sports. I think you're going to see a massive growth in the number of girls, because it's in its infancy right now, but as more girls see it and see the success they can have, they’ll want to do it.”