Girls wrestling officially is a high school sport in the state of Missouri. This winter season (2018-19) is the first season for girls wrestling.
Missouri becomes the ninth state to officially add girls wrestling as a sport at the high school level.
Some girls throughout the state had been wrestling on boys teams in past seasons, but this is the first season that girls wrestling officially is a sport.
Washington currently has 10 wrestlers on its girls roster. They are Elizabeth Brown, Autumn Dalgetty, Tayhler Davis, McKenna Deckelman, Kylie Kuenzel, Courtney McEwen, Allison Meyer, Halaina O’Bryant, Kylee Perriman and Mia Reed.
“It’s taking a while for some of the girls to adjust, and others have really taken to it,” said Washington Wrestling Coach Josh Ohm. “I would like to have a larger numbers, but the girls we have in this program are doing a great job.”
The Lady Jays will not be competing in dual meets this season, just tournaments.
After wrestling at the Ft. Zumwalt North Tournament on Dec. 1, Washington competed at the Rockwood Summit Tournament on Dec. 8.
At Ft. Zumwalt North, Reed and Meyer wrestled to first-place finishes. O’Bryant took second place. McEwen and Brown placed third.
At Rockwood Summit, taking first-place honors were Davis and O’Bryant. Meyer earned a second-place finish. Reed and Brown notched fourth-place finishes.
“We have already had some really big standouts with Halaina and Allison in their first year ever of wrestling being in the finals for both of their first meets,” Ohm said. “The girls look to Tayhler and Mia to lead them on and off the mat. They are both experienced wrestlers who have had success in the past at the boys varsity level.
“Saturday (Rockwood Summit) was great. Everyone got at least one win and really showed improvement. Our girls understand that this is not a gimmick or just a fun experience to be the first girls, but something we take very seriously and have set very high expectations. No matter what the label is, it’s still Washington Wrestling and we have a clear and defined way of doing things and what we expect. So I think these girls have done a very good job of that so far and will continue to do just that. I think you will be hearing a lot about these young ladies in the next couple of months. Hopefully these girls can set the bar and get more girls excited to join our team next year.”
Photos of Washington wrestlers at Rockwood Summit are below.
