The referee’s whistle echoed through the gym as the girls wrestling team took the mat for their first ever girls dual meet. CHS went against Oakton High School on Jan.15 at home.
On Feb. 8 2024, under the proposed budget for the 2024-25 school year, superintendent Dr. Michelle C. Reid announced that girls wrestling would be an official sport for FCPS high schools.
“I’m so proud to have a girls team,” senior wrestler Amala Elangoven said. “The girls have formed a very tight-knit community, really helping the program grow. I’m extremely happy we are getting official recognition.”
Girls wrestling has seen growth of interest, according to Flowrestling. Participation in high schools increased 71% across all states from the year 2018 to 2020. In 2021 to 2022, there was a 46% increase in participation.
“When I wrestled for Chantilly, girls wrestling wasn’t an official VHSL sport,” girls wrestling head coach Rose Klosky said. “I competed with the boys and was only able to go to a handful of unofficial all-girl tournaments. The sport has moved forward tremendously since, now having five official all-girl tournaments, a state tournament and support from VHSL and FCPS.”
According to Klosky, attendance at the county’s girls tournaments has skyrocketed as well.What began as 50-100 girls, is now 200 plus. In the past two years, the number of girls on CHS’ team has doubled from six to 12.
Wrestling has historically been considered a male-dominated sport, with women only recently beginning to gain opportunities to compete. According to the National Wrestling Coaches Association, wrestling was recognized as an official female sport in 2020 due to its increasing interest rate. Since 1994, the number of women in wrestling has grown from 800 to 50,000 in the U.S. This past summer, the Olympics celebrated women’s wrestling’s 20th year of participating in the games.
“I’ve met so many girls that could absolutely own any guy on the mat,” Elangoven said. “Stereotypes exist, but there’s something in facing those with a close knit-team like this that really makes it impactful.”
The School of Wrestling discusses the different mental challenges that wrestlers face, such as confidence issues, stressful situations and more. However, it does not discuss the possible mental issues that come with being a girl wrestling.
“One challenge I’ve dealt with is mentally feeling underestimated and judged by being a girl wrestling,” sophomore Aspen Mudge said. “Last year, it was hard to be taken seriously being one of the only girls on an all boys wrestling team. Now I feel very supported, surrounded by other girls who have been in the same position as me.”
Mudge believes that with this new addition to FCPS, younger girls will feel more comfortable joining wrestling. According to Mudge, she is attempting to inspire people to break out of their shell easier.
“Originally, I was really into cheer, but once I quit, I wanted to try something different and new,” Mudge said. “Once I found out that girls could join the boys wrestling team, I signed up so fast.”
