South Lakes High School girls are entering the wrestling ring for the first time ever this winter, as the newest FCPS sport, Girls Varsity Wrestling, begins its first season.
The nine girl team is mostly made up of wrestlers who are new to the sport, which is consistent among many FCPS sports teams. Each athlete on the team had different reasons to pique their interest in wrestling.
“I wanted to be able to defend myself, but also, growing up, my dad was a big fan of WWE so my uncles made me watch that all the time with them. I always wanted to be like the girl wrestlers,” Senior Alisson Ramos said.
Junior Irene Ha decided to join the team to try something new and to relieve her stress.
“I’d been looking into a new sport; I’d been a little bit stressed about my current one and I wanted to try something new. It was a coincidence this year that they happened to add a girl’s wrestling team, and I thought it was so cool. I also have some friends that were trying to convince me to join, and they did successfully, so I joined the team,” she said.
Many of the girls reported that they are thoroughly enjoying the sport so far, and have been learning lots and improving significantly since the beginning of the season.
Also new to the sport, Junior Lila Jaster came in second place in the ‘Queen of the Ring’ tournament, one of the first competitions of the season. She has come to love the sport since the start of the season.
“I like it; I think it might be my main sport now. Even though I just started, I think I can improve a lot more. I think I want to do it in college,” she said.
Lila, who has also been on the soccer team and a kicker for the football team for three years, added how wrestling is unique from other sports she has played.
“I think it’s unique because it’s a lot about sportsmanship. Even though you’re being physical, it’s not like you’re fighting to the death or you hate the other person. We both know that we enjoy wrestling, and are wrestling each other because we like it,” she said.
Not only did the girls express that the sport creates a sportsmanlike and respectful environment, they also provided details of why the team culture is also a great space to be a part of.
“I think there’s only a few teams in South Lakes that feel like a family, and wrestling is one of them. If you get hurt, everybody stops and makes sure that you’re okay. The sport aligns with my values because my culture believes that you should rely on teams, so if you mess up, everybody has to pay for it,” Ramos said.
Ha stated that she feels bonded with her teammates through their shared experiences.
“Not all of us are connected by talking, but we’re connected by feeling the same kind of suffering and pain. We go through a lot of things together, and in that way we are very connected,” she said.
Success in the sport of wrestling is not only dependent on physical strength or endurance. An important trait that wrestlers need to have to be successful is a strong mentality.
“The mentality is really different [from other sports]. Wrestling is definitely tough, so the mentality you need to go into it is not like any other sport. It’s a different kind of pain,” Ha said.
Ramos believes that her mental health has improved because of the mentality that she has acquired from wrestling.
“I think my mental health has improved because I’m constantly thinking about what I can improve and it keeps my mind busy from thinking of bad things. Once you get on the mat, you literally realize that, ‘these people aren’t better than me’. You are your first opponent; you are your biggest enemy sometimes. It’s all about just having a positive mindset,” she said.
Even though wrestling seasons have had a strong start in FCPS so far, there’s been some unequal treatment that resulted from girls wrestling being relatively new in the state.
“At our school, we’re given equal opportunities, but I’ve noticed that when we go to meets, that’s not always the case. For example, we went to the JV Jamboree last week, which was with boys and girls, and it seemed like the organizers of the meet prioritized the boys over girls. We were waiting in line forever to get a match, while the boys, even though they came after us, would get matches before us,” Jaster said.
Ramos expressed how it was unfair that the girls team didn’t have a coach in the beginning of the season.
“Most of the time, we don’t get the same practice; for example, at the beginning of the season, we didn’t have a coach. [Our coach] just came two weeks ago, and the whole time we’d been practicing with the guys,” she said.
Under coach Victoria Smith’s guidance, the girls have quickly learned basic moves and will progress to more advanced moves as they continue to improve. Smith is a former NCWA National Champion with many other national accolades.
“This is her first time coaching, so she’s also learning along the way, but she’s really good at teaching us moves that align with our experience level. Even though she knows all these extravagant moves, she teaches us the beginning moves first, and I think that helps us get everything down without feeling rushed. I’m excited to learn some of her more advanced moves [in the future],” Jaster said.
The girls are looking forward to the rest of their season and the continuation of the sport, as female wrestlers break barriers and the sport becomes more common in the county, state, and nation.
“Being part of the original South Lakes girl’s wrestling team is one thing that I think will make people understand that wrestling is not only for guys. I want people to know that wrestling is for everybody, not just for guys,” Ramos said.
If you’re interested in cheering on the girl’s wrestling team, their next home meet will be on January 22nd, against Oakton and Westfield High School.
