Bassett, Martinsville girls wrestlers compete at state tournament as sport continues to grow in Virginia

Some felt like it was just another match, some were more nervous than usual, others more confident.

Just about all of them, though, were surprised by how big the competition was.

More than 300 girls from around the state traveled to Manassas on February 24-25 to compete in the girls open state championship. The VHSL announced the all-girls states earlier this school, a first for female wrestlers who previously had to compete against boys on the mat if they wanted to chase a state title dream.

Bassett High School wrestling coach Dylan Johnson took four Bengals to the match: Sophomores Ta’Meil Foddrell and Karlee Shivley, and seniors Jade DeHart and Kailey Mitchem. Martinsville High School wrestling coach Fred Barrier took two Bulldogs: Sophomores Sontrell Daniels and Vex Millner.

Foddrell, wrestling in the 157 pound weight class, and Daniels, in the 120 pound, both placed sixth overall in their classes.

Foddrell and Daniels had more experience than any other girl from the local area competing. Foddrell is in her second year wrestling, and Daniels is in her third.

“I didn’t think it was different at all,” Foddrell said of states. “It felt the same as far as everything goes. It was different from wrestling guys, but it was still the same idea going into it… It felt the same as every other day, to be honest. I didn’t feel any pressure, except on the second day, but the first day it was just like go out there and wrestle. There was really no big difference.”

“It was pretty hectic. There were a lot of girls,” Daniels said. “I was nervous at first but as the tournament went on I got more comfortable and it was fun.

“My nerves were all over the place. I was trying to calm myself down because I knew how many girls were going to be there, but it changed when I got up there… My team, for sure, they motivated me a lot. The more I wrestled the more they comforted me and pushed me into trying.”

Daniels, who was sick just a few days before the competition, had a chance to finish third, despite losing one of her first matches and being relegated to the loser’s bracket early in the double-elimination tournament. The Bulldog rattled off five straight wins from there to put herself on the podium.

“She was very aggressive, very tough,” Barrier said of Daniels. “The way she finished, she put on a good performance. She walked herself back into the competition after her first loss… She did well. I wouldn’t have asked for anything else better. She really surprised me.”

At the Piedmont District championships this winter, wrestling against all males, Daniels finished third in her weight class, and Millner finished fourth in the 106 pound class.

Millner is in her first season wrestling with the Bulldogs. The first year is a time when Barrier said all wrestlers have to learn both how to win and how to lose. The sophomore is still going through those growing pains, but Barrier said the state tournament was a good learning experience as she goes into the Year 2.

“She’s going go through the process when you’re first starting out, you have to lose in order to win,” he said of Millner. “She actually poured her heart out coming in really small, weighing probably 90-some-odd pounds and then wrestling 106, so she was giving up a little bit extra. Then actually coming up here, coming from not winning a match and taking somebody down and surprising herself, she had a lot of those moments. It was a pretty good experience for her.”

Bassett had competed in one other all-girls match earlier this season at Staunton River High School, which was their only other time wrestling against girls.

The Bengals said they were inspired to see how many others across the state compete in their sport, and they surprised themselves on the mat. DeHart said she felt she was “overpowered half the time,” but she still started the tournament with a pin.

“I think it was different from male tournaments just because a lot of us had more matches than we’ve had throughout this season,” DeHart said. “So it just kind of whenever one of us was on the mat we all went to support them… I think the playing field was even because usually we wrestle guys. You couldn’t use excuses of like, well I’m wrestling a guy, so I think the plane was even.”

“I was a lot more nervous because it was states, but I think I did a lot better than I did the rest of the season,” Shivley said.

“I felt like us going into it was a lot different than trying to get ready to wrestle the guys,” Mitcham said. “It was just a lot more thinking like, I have a better chance of doing this because with the heavier guys I was always getting overpowered so I felt like I had a bit of a better chance.”

Johnson said it was “awesome” to finally see his girls wrestling in their element and against competition where they could be more competitive.

Both coaches, too, saw improvement from their wrestlers over the weekend.

“I saw every single one of them grow in technique, fundamentals, the whole nine. Karlee and Jade both got two wins apiece at the state tournament,” Johnson said.

“I want them to basically understand that greatness is really not handed to you,” Barrier said. “You have to go in and take it because somebody else has the same mindset you have. They’re going to step on the mat, they want to snatch everything from you… You’ve got to be aggressive and you’ve got to go after it if you want it.”

States was a learning experience for all the wrestlers, especially the underclassmen who intend to get back on the mat next season. It was nice for all to get support from other girls on their own team, from the area, and the state. Daniels said she wouldn’t have found success this season if it wasn’t for the support she receives from other females in the sport.

The girls also learned that weekend what it takes to be competitive on the mat.

“I need to work on repetition,” Foddrell said. “I don’t need to learn a bunch of stuff, but I just need to get good at what I do. Like really good.”

“I liked seeing the progress that I made. The longer I wrestled the better I felt I was at the sport,” Daniels said. “I felt like I’ve gotten a lot stronger physically and mentally. And my technique has improved a lot… All I really learned was to keep trying, keep going. Don’t give anything up.”

DeHart plans to attend Patrick & Henry Community College in the fall. The Patriots have a wrestling program, in its second year of existence, but does not have anything specifically for women’s wrestling. DeHart said she doesn’t want to wrestle against men in college, but if the school had a focus on women in the sport she’d like to continue.

Mitchem said she also wants to try to wrestle in college somewhere, but she knows there’s work to be done before getting there.

“It’s definitely opened my eyes into how much I have to practice more to try to get more experience,” Mitchem said. “And I definitely want to try and get more muscle because if I were to be wrestling more guys I want to be able to have the equal advantage to have the strength they have.”

Last September, the VHSL Executive Committee voted to designate girls wrestling as an “emerging sport” starting this school year, with a 3-year probationary period to become officially sanctioned. According to The (Charlottesville) Daily Progress, under the proposal, “There would have to be at least 136 schools with females on their rosters for the VHSL to move forward with the sanctioning of girls wrestling. If those requirements are not met, the three-year process would have to start over.”

As the VHSL moves towards the possibility of making girls wrestling an official high school sport, Johnson has already begun recruiting and trying to see more Bengals on the mat. His hope is to have 10-15 female wrestlers next season for a full team, with a goal of having girls wrestling it’s own individual sport at the school.

Bassett also has an annual kids wrestling camp every summer, and Johnson has asked his girls if they would be interested in coaching a possible camp just for girls.

Johnson has known for some time that it was inevitable girls wrestling would become a reality, and seeing the numbers and level of competition at states was all the proof he needed.

“Whether it’s next year or the year after, girls wresting is going to happen,” he said. “They can’t argue with those amount of numbers. And in the winter time that’s another sport they can do, because if it’s not indoor track or girls basketball you don’t really have a lot of options, so it’s just another option to get our kids involved in sports and after school activities. I’ll take it any day.

“Getting to see you guys in your element and getting to see where this sport is going to be soon, it’s really exciting... I think we can start really pushing this program.”

The girls who competed at states also saw hope for the future.

“I hope eventually there’s its own girls wrestling team and more girls get into it because I see all this stuff on the internet about other states having women’s states... so I feel like it’s 2023 and Virginia just had theirs? I feel like we’re kind of behind,” DeHart said. “I think this has been a male-dominant sport for a while, so I think it’s going to be cooler to see women get into it. Women are just great.”