Takedown Report

Girls getting tough in male-dominated sport

While having a girl on the boys’ wrestling team was not unheard of in the past, this year seven girls at Pontiac Township High School have decided to start their own team under the guidance of head coach Corey Christenson.
The girls had their first team dual-format meet at Batavia High School on Wednesday. The girls wrestled against opponents from schools including Park Ridge (Maine East), Elgin (Larkin), Skokie (Niles West), Burlington (Central), Ottawa and Downers Grove (D.G. South). The girls will wrestle again in “The Munch” girls’ open format tournament on Saturday at PTHS.
Although nothing official has been announced, Christenson said Ottawa could bring around 15 girls, Berwyn-Cicero (Morton) could bring anywhere from 15 to 20, East Peoria could bring three, Mount Olive could bring five, Coal City could bring one and El Paso-Gridley could bring two.
“Who is going to actually show up? I’m not sure yet. But, I’m hoping that it takes off,” Christenson said. “The bottom line is, we gotta get this going and get the interest sparked. I can tell you, on the way home after the match at Batavia, the girls couldn’t stop talking about it.”  Recognizing the growing interest in girls’ wrestling, the Illinois High School Association allowed the IWCOA to organize girls’ wrestling teams this year. However, Christenson has had girls in his wrestling program since he took over the program.  “The first girl that wrestled for us was Magen Lane in 2002-03. We needed a body to fill a weight class and she offered to take forfeits. She was a manager and she was also the first girl to help the team with a win,” he said.
“Since then, more girls have helped out, including her sister, Hannah Lane. One year I had right around 14 girls on the wrestling team. So, it’s not as unheard of as some people might think. I feel like Magen started it for our school and showed her peers that girls can wrestle, too.  Rest of the story at http://www.pontiacdailyleader.com/news/20181207/girls-getting-tough-in-male-dominated-sport

December 9, 2018 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized