Women’s Wrestling is starting its inaugural season with its first match against Frostburg State University Nov. 3 in the Anderson Sports and Health Center.
The team has one shared emotion: excitement. “I’m excited for new tournaments because a lot of my teammates from last year are in different schools now, so I might actually be wrestling my own teammates,” said freshman Ahlexa Montalvo.
First-year Grace Capoocia said women’s wrestling opens many new opportunities for students.
“I’m most excited about getting more matches because I love wrestling, and I’m also excited to see the team grow together,” Capoocia said
The decision to sign on for a brand new program came with lots of careful consideration, especially since some of the women are from out of state. Janiyah Griffin, a 17-year-old freshman from South Carolina who just recently moved to Waynesboro, Pa., said she could have attended many other schools, but none of them had women’s wrestling. Griffin loves trying new things and loves the challenge of wrestling, so the fact that the team is new was attractive to her.
Alejandra Alfaro Salazar, a freshman from Denver, Colorado, said her decision was already made when upon hearing about the team, but when she visited the campus, she fell in love, she said. The size of the university and its location were perfect, she said.
Ahlexa Montalvo , from Bloomfield, New Jersey, said she decided to sign on after she attended a wrestling camp during the summer. There she was able to meet some of the other women on the team and she got along with them well. “My roommate that I had at the camp is my roommate right now, and we’re really good friends and it just clicked,” said Montalvo.
Women’s Wrestling is still a new and upcoming sport and still unusual. The women on the team were all introduced to the sport in different ways. Montalvo said her mom got her into wrestling as a way to release pent up anger. Her mom owned a boxing facility, so whenever there was an argument, they went there and fought it out. Eventually, her into wrestling in the eighth grade. In high school she became a starter for both the girls and the boys wrestling team.
For Capoocia, wrestling ran in the family. Her dad used to coach both middle school and high school wrestling, and her older brother wrestled, as did her little brother.
Salazar has wrestled for a couple years now. She’s participated in States twice, was a State Champion, and won a team title with her team senior year.
“We need more women, come try out, and don’t be nervous even if you have no experience, everyone starts somewhere,” Salazar said.
“I would encourage anyone to try women wrestling. It’s a very good anger outlet, a good way to learn self defense, and why not just learn how to be strong?” said Griffin.
Practices have started and already team members have learned a lot. Griffins’ go to move, which she recently learned, is a sweep single into a leg lace. She explained it as, “[I] take a shot, go forward, grab the ankle, go behind the person yank, then put my arms around them and just keep turning.”
The move has proven to be effective and powerful, she said.
Members are in anticipation of seeing their singlets, the uniforms they wear during matches. The team is looking for support for their first match, and would love to see a big turnout.