Senior Efrata Mekene has been a member of the wrestling team throughout her four years at B-CC. “No girl has ever made it through a whole season here. Hearing that made me want to prove that it could be done,” Mekene said.
Over the past several years, girls wrestling has become increasingly more popular across the nation. High schools, colleges, and universities around the country have started their own girls wrestling programs to create an opportunity for girls at their schools to explore a new sport. In the 2023-24 school year, the NFHS High School Athletics Participation reported that almost 3.5 million girls participated in their high school wrestling team, which is a record high.
B-CC, too, has recently had an increase in the number of girls participating in wrestling. “I had a lot of free time, and I liked the idea of committing to something that would push me physically and mentally,” Mekene said. According to the Wrestle Like A Girl organization, wrestling can promote self-esteem, confidence, and discipline while also building a supportive, lifelong community of athletes.
Coaches also have an extremely prominent role in how their athletes perform. B-CC wrestling coach Tyler Tockman said “I wanted to be a coach so I could help athletes gain mental toughness, self-confidence, accountability, teamwork, and sportsmanship in the ways wrestling helped me when I was their age.” A coach’s words and attitude can very quickly affect an athlete’s mentality towards a sport and leave a permanent influence on their execution. NFHS also expressed that it’s important to have a coach who focuses on building positive and personal relationships with their athletes to ensure success both on and off the mat.
Wrestling is a competitive sport, but both Mekene and Tockman agreed that winning and losing are not everything in this sport. From each match, players and coaches are able to learn things about themselves; things to help them improve for future competitions, or even things happening in life off of the mat. It’s important to intently find impactful lessons from things that have meaning to yourself or things you put an immense amount of effort into. Mekene said, “Wrestling has taught me resilience in many ways. My freshman year was tough, I struggled, lost matches, and often felt like I wasn’t good enough. But I never gave up. Over time, I realized that in wrestling, you never truly lose; every match is an opportunity to learn and grow. By the end of the season, I could see how much I had improved. That experience showed me that failure isn’t the end and that it’s just a part of the process.”
Tockman added, “You can have excuses or results; you can’t have both. Success comes from the work you put in. There is no instant gratification in the sport of wrestling. No matter if there are 200 people or two people in the stands, you do it for yourself and your teammates and reap the benefits the sport gives.”
An athlete recognizing their own accomplishments reinforces positive behaviors, motivates them to continue working hard, and proves a sense of achievement. All of these reasons can significantly improve an athlete’s performance and overall mental well-being while training and competing. “My biggest accomplishment was winning regionals — not just once, but twice. It felt surreal because, in my freshman year, I never imagined I’d get to that level,” Mekene said. “But beyond the wins, my most memorable moment was forming friendships with my teammates. Seeing (girls) wrestling grow at B-CC and knowing that I played a part in making space for other girls in wrestling is something I’m really proud of.”
Tockman hopes for more girls to try out for the wrestling team next year. There are also boys and girls youth wrestling programs held at B-CC for younger kids or siblings of B-CC students. Tockman advised that participating in these beginner programs can help kids learn and gain confidence before starting their high school career. Mekene hopes to see girls wrestling continue to grow and gain a stronger presence in high school sports.
