BEREA, Ohio — Christina Schmidt is the first head coach of the Berea Midpark girls’ wrestling team. She has close to a dozen players, and they’re all starting a new sport. Some need to learn how to move around the mat.
She had to wrestle with the boys when she competed in high school, but girls wrestling is now an official OHSAA sport. This is the first season.
“I feel like it just should have been a thing already but I’m really thankful and great duo that it really started to grow,” Schmidt said. “When I wrestled, there were almost no girls.”
Ally Williams and Madison Kubicki are often sparring partners. They already have their own handshake.
Ally plays catcher for the softball team. She admits this sport has a whole new level of conditioning.
“I cannot run for a very long time without wanting to lie down and go to sleep,” Williams said. “Wrestling I knew would help me improve my endurance.”
Madison got her first pin for the program at a meet last week.
“I was the very first girl to win a match with a pin and I am very excited,” Madison said.
Coach said the team is learning about the discipline required with the sport. In wrestling, the weight room is meant to help maintain their weight.
“That definitely is different just because they’ve gotta make sure that they’re still able to make the weight class that they want to,” Schmidt said.
Coach said the turnout shows that wrestling is moving away from just being a boy’s domain.
