Takedown Report

Wrestling-program expansion brings New Jersey girls to the mat

BARNEGAT TOWNSHIP — Karina Santiago had never wrestled before in her life.

The opportunity hadn’t presented itself.

But when the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association announced earlier this year it would sanction a state tournament for individual girl wrestlers, the Barnegat High School senior did not think twice about taking up the sport.  

“I think having girls on a wrestling team is a good asset to have, not only for our school but for other schools in general,” said Santiago, 17. “It can give the idea to other girls to face their biggest fears and not be scared to go out and try something that others say you can’t do.”

New Jersey is the 12th state and the first in the Northeast to sanction girls wrestling.  During a recent practice, Santiago, who is one of four girls on the Barnegat wrestling team, pushed up her sandy-blond hair underneath the standard headgear and confidently jogged on the mat, just like any other member of the team.  She understands that wrestling is not always seen as a girls sport, but that is a reason she wanted to compete on the mat.

She wanted to try a sport that requires the same amount of grit and strength from boys and girls.  “A lot of males underestimate girls that do wrestling,” she said. “I thought that I could join wrestling to not only make a better impact on myself, but also prove to all the boys in wrestling that girls can do it.”  In 2017-18, 16,562 girls wrestled at 2,351 schools across the country, according to an annual participation survey by the National Federation of State High School Associations.  California had the most girl wrestlers with 5,286 a decade after it approved the sport.

“The girls never had the opportunity. Now they do,” said Princeton University wrestling coach Chris Ayres, who worked with state high school officials to develop the girls wrestling program. “It’s going to grow every year. There’s just a demand. Once you get this thing started, it doesn’t go backward.”  Rest of the story at https://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/highschool/wrestling/wrestling-program-expansion-brings-new-jersey-girls-to-the-mat/article_ab0a9052-b8af-56b2-afa9-1bdebd7b3423.html?mc_cid=e084b00877&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

December 17, 2018 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized