The Alliance School Board took action last Monday night to approve a girls wrestling program at Alliance High School, with the program set to take off in the next school year.
The room was packed with parents, students and coaches, with some vocalizing their support of implementing the program to allow for growth.
“The way I see it is, it’s not a debate whether we have girls wrestling,” said Jeremy Benzel. “We have girls wrestling now. The decision really boils down to: do we want to continue to make our girls wrestle boys, or let them wrestle girls. I think that it’s an injustice to not let our girls wrestle girls.”
Personal growth was highlighted by Jacque Bair, citing her daughter’s experience in her support of starting the program.
“I’m not a wrestling family, never thought we would be,” said Bair. “And of all my kids who did it, it was my daughter who chose wrestling. The growth she had in watching her wrestle boys versus wrestle girls was such a difference. You could see the boys were very uncomfortable. When she wrestled girls, it was a fight to the finish. I think it’s just going to grow from here, so I think, why not? Let’s just give it to our girls. It’s one of the fastest growing collegiate sports. Let’s get our girls going on it now.”
Bair said that at the middle school level girls are able to wrestle girls, but that distinction vanishes once the girls reach high school without a girls wrestling program in place. Her daughter also spoke during the meeting, providing insight about the value of the program.
“I never thought that I would wrestle, until I moved schools,” Lilah Bair said. “While wrestling, I learned a lot of hard things, but while wrestling boys, it was different because the boys wouldn’t really wrestle me. They would just let me do what I wanted. While wrestling girls, I got more of a challenge. It helped me a lot with my mental strength.”
Jane Faber, who has grandchildren who wrestle, said that by having the program available, it would instill many of the same values that it does for boys who currently wrestle.
“It encourages physical fitness, confidence, mental toughness, self esteem and just plain old togetherness as a team,” said Faber. “Wrestlers are a family. Wrestling is a team sport, but you have to work hard to succeed. Wrestling teaches you lifelong lessons, gives you lifelong friends. I would like to ask you (the board) to allow girls wrestling in Alliance High School.”
Next, Sherri Stoike emphasized that the program is needed at Alliance High School. She said she went to every single match this season and noted it was hard to watch Alliance’s only female wrestler as she was competing on an uneven playing field.
“We were the only team at every single tournament that had one female wrestler,” said Stoike. “There were other teams that had a female team, but none of their female teams wrestled with their boys. It was hard for me, as a mom, to watch Jayla (Grant) struggle. It was hard for me, as a mom, to watch our coach struggle, knowing she was struggling. I just think it’s something that we need, so I encourage you to vote yes on it.”
Jamie Fancher, who works with the Alliance Wrestling Club, noted she has seen a trend where girls drop out of the program, seeing no chance to progress to the next level.
“The reason we’re watching them fall off is because they don’t have anywhere to go past middle school,” said Fancher. “There’s enough girls in this district to absolutely have our girls wrestle. They have so much more to be proud of if they have the opportunity to just wrestle girls.”
Pearl Mayhew spoke about her experience wrestling, emphasizing the importance of having the opportunity to wrestle on an even playing field.
“It is necessary for us to have it in high school now, so we can use it,” Mayhew said.
Derrick Wells, wrestling coach at Alliance Middle School, said that he has had at least one female wrestler every season that he has coached. He said that if the program is implemented, he believes there will be enough interest in the program to sustain it.
Jayla Grant spoke about her experience wrestling in high school, noting the difficulty of wrestling boys and the frustrations she experienced.
“I beat myself up a lot,” said Grant. “I wanted to quit because I thought I wasn’t a good enough wrestler and never won. I’m a great wrestler, and I know that. Since I was the only girl wrestling in the guys’ division this year, I was robbed of many opportunities. One of those opportunities was state. I was robbed of my chance at state because going against guys is not fair. I will keep fighting for the future. The future we need at Alliance High School is a girls wrestling team.”
Later in the meeting, the board discussed the program, with Superintendent Dr. Troy Unzicker providing some background on girls wrestling. He explained that last time the issue came before the board, the board members declined to implement the program. He explained that they could run the program under the same coach, depending on the number of girls who enroll in the program, though they would have a better idea of the details if the program was implemented.
Board Member Shana Brown made the motion to approve the program, and it was seconded by Board Member Jake Sylvester. The board voted unanimously to implement the program at Alliance High School, and the vote was met with applause by those in attendance.