On the Verge of Being Sanctioned by the South Carolina High School League, Woodruff High School is at the Forefront of Girls’ Wrestling in the Palmetto State
By: Garrett Mitchell, Staff Writer
June Welch capped her sophomore wrestling season by doing what no female had previously done in the state of South Carolina. She won the state championship in her weight class, becoming the first female to do so, and against a field made up exclusively of male wrestlers.
June’s accomplishment did much to legitimize girls’ presence in a sport long thought to be dominated by boys. The truth, however, is that women are becoming more and more an integral part of the sport, and in Woodruff, June’s leadership and example have inspired many young ladies to give the sport a try for the first time.
Starting this season, Woodruff High School has fielded its very first-ever girls’ wrestling team, and though many of the nine young women who make up the squad are wrestling for the first time, they have embraced the sport and have proven to be quick learners and fierce competitors themselves.
Woodruff wrestling Head Coach John Harper says girls’ is beginning to rapidly grow in the Palmetto State, something he is thrilled to see as a more diverse group of athletes are taking an interest in and joining the sport.
“The participation levels, if you look at it just from a Woodruff standpoint, we had two young ladies on the team last year, and we have nine this year,” said Harper. “If you extend that down to the youth program from first through sixth grade, we had another six females start this year because we added an all-girls youth team this year to kind of recruit those younger kids who are interested in trying (wrestling). With the state moving toward sanctioning (girls’ wrestling), you have seen an uptick across the state. Last year there were about 130 girls wrestling across the state combined in middle school and high school, and we are approaching 300 girls this year, so the interest is there.”
The South Carolina High School League is planning to officially sanction girls’ wresting starting with the 2023-24 school year, and with it, there will be team and individual state champions recognized by the league, which will fully legitimize the efforts of the young ladies working to grow the sport among their peers.
The Lady Wolverines, who are already doing that in Woodruff, are willing trailblazers who say they have enjoyed learning the physical and strategic nature of the sport.
“I just thought wrestling looked really fun,” said freshman Patricia Smith, who has been wrestling for two months. “At first, I was a little intimidated by the boys, but I’ve never not done something because I was intimidated by it.”
Fellow freshman Rachel Hayes, also in her first season on the team, echoes those sentiments.
“I think the idea of wrestling, in general, is what drew me to the sport,” Hayes said. “I have always wanted to do it but never knew I could do it since it is male-dominated.”
Smith says she and the other girls on the team take pride in helping to diversify the sport and want to dispel the preconceived notions that girls cannot be successful on the mat. She says she and her teammates want to leave their own legacy on the program they are instrumental in helping create.
“It’s special to be a part of that,” said Smith. “Really special. I feel like (the girls) have really picked up on the sport and have started to grow a lot more. The coaches really get down to it with you, and we are improving a lot faster.”
The early returns have been positive and successful. Welch has already won tournaments at Greenwood and Laurens High Schools, and Adeline Rudder, another member of the ladies’ team, finished in third place at Greenwood and Laurens.
Welch will still be able to defend her championship against male wrestlers this season, but one of the caveats to the South Carolina High School League sanctioning girls’ wrestling will be that once official state championships will be awarded for female wrestling, girls will no longer be able to compete against boys.
But for now, especially during practice, Hayes says the boys on the team have been welcoming to all the girls joining them, even if they don’t always take it easy when teaching them the sport.
“Some of them have been nicer than others,” she quipped. “There are some that will sit there and walk you through what to do and some, you know, that are doing their own thing.”
Smith added that she and her teammates simply want to be the best wrestlers they can be and want other girls to know that there are many open opportunities for them to engage in the sport and be successful as well as have fun doing it.
“It’s fun to go against different people, said Smith. “It’s different for different people and different body types, but we can all be successful in our own way.”
Coach Harper agrees, adding that he is extremely proud of the girls he coaches and is eager to see what the future holds for them as their athletic careers begin to take off.
“I’ve coached individual females all throughout my career, and every team I’ve had has had at least one or two females on it, but I’ve never had a group this size,” he said. “But they listen; they try to apply the things we teach them. They are coachable, they apply that coaching, and they want to improve. That makes any coach’s job so much easier.”
He added, “I think there is a big misconception that females competing in a male-dominated sport are going to be out-toughed, but these girls are just as tough as the guys. They may show it differently, but their work ethic and their, approach and their mental and physical toughness are all on par with our best male athletes, so I’m excited to get to coach them and be a part of the birth of women’s wrestling in the state of South Carolina. It’s a privilege.”
Author: Tracy Sanders
