Girls Wrestling Regionals

Megan Poppe (Junior), Reporter

The girls’ wrestling team traveled to Warren Central High School to compete in the Southwest Girls Regionals. This year, three out of the six girls were able to go through and make it to state. State is being held this Friday at Mooresville High School. Jada Stitch placed fourth and said, “Believe it or not, I wasn’t too nervous. I was determined to go to state and I knew I could win any of my matches if I just didn’t give up. I’m trying to treat State like just a regular tournament so I don’t make myself anxious.”

Bethany Degraw placed second, and said, “It felt surreal because last season I was one tough match short of going to state. I’m excited to go because it’s the last time I’ll wrestle, maybe for the rest of my life.” The other girls who placed were Claira Gramlin, who placed first place, and Nadia Keene who placed sixth.

Nadia Keene, when asked about how she feels going to state to support her teammates, said, “I am very excited to be able to support and cheer on my fellow teammates.” All girls will be going to state to support the team, but only three will be competing.

The girls team here has been trying to get it sanctioned so that it is its own sport, instead of falling under boys wrestling. The coaches and girls have been trying to make this happen for years. This season started off slow, according to Jada Stitch, “The season didn’t start off the way I wanted it too, with low placing or not placing at all, it motivated me to push harder and endure more during practices.”

Nadia Keene pointed out when asked the same question that the team has been improving majorly, “The season has been going fairly well for the girls, especially being that we had such a small team. I was also happy to have made a lot of improvements from last year.”

One girl on the team who had a really good chance at advancing to State was Flor Reyes, who went to State last year. She was unfortunately injured, and was concussed during one of her matches, meaning she had to unfortunately withdraw from the tournament. We wish her the best with her recovery. Jada said, “The team is probably the reason I kept coming back all the times it got hard, they made me feel like I always had a place with them. I’ll never forget the bond I had with this team.”

The girls wrestling team is going on its seventh year of going to state this year, and the team has grown bigger over years, as well as shrinking then growing again. The girls did win state in 2021, making them the only wrestling team from Lebanon to win State. When asked how the girls work together as a team, Nadia said, “My favorite part is my teammates and coaches, and feeling like I’m part of something bigger, together.”