Central competed with a girls wrestling team for the first time ever last year. This year, the team has continued to compete with new and returning wrestlers, with new all–girl tournament opportunities. 

In previous years, girls who wanted to wrestle for Central had to practice and compete with the boy’s team, with the few girls who did compete having limited access to tournaments. After retired math teacher Rob Porter took the position of head coach last year, a girls team became official. 

The team now practices and competes against other all-girls wrestling teams around the state. 

Central’s team growth follows a larger state wide trend.

“The program is growing,” Porter said. “There’s so many more girls participating, the Illinois High School Association had to add a regional (along with) the sectional to qualify for state.”

The team has many new freshmen plus some experienced returning players. Junior Annika Hull has been wrestling for Central since her freshman year, where she had to compete with the boys team.

“(My freshman year) there really wasn’t a team,” Hull said. “We didn’t really have a coach and we barely got any matches.”

Gaining a team environment for the female wrestlers has been a positive experience for the girls, especially for the ones who didn’t get the experience in earlier years. 

“(A team environment) wasn’t really there my freshman year and now I have seven girls on the team,” Hull said. “Now I get to watch them and the team grow.” 

The growth for the team won’t stop there. New tournaments are being added every season and coaches and athletes are always looking for new ways to get more involved with tournaments and athletics at Central. 

“(We will hopefully) get to wrestle under the lights as a varsity team for DVC,” Hull said. “I think that could change the outlook (of the team) because then we’ll be considered a varsity team, just like the boys.”