A very skilled group of girls made history at the first-ever Wyoming girls state tournament held in Casper on Feb. 24-25. Seeing as this is the first girls state there’s a lot to talk about. 

“There was a lot of anxiety and pressure within that stadium,” junior Abigail Leblanc said. “Even when she [my sister] was on the mat, all I could do was hope she heard me yelling at her.” 

Abigail’s sister is one of the members on the very small girls wrestling team here at PHS. Allison is newer at the sport but very driven and excited to learn about wrestling and all it entails. She wrestled on the highschool team for a 7-0 record, which led her to a second place finish at state.

“I knew my finals match at state was gonna be a difficult one,“ freshman Allison Leblanc said. “I had faced her [Rebekah Anderson from Moorcroft] before, and have noticed her background in wrestling.” 

Girls wrestling isn’t as easy as it may appear to the eye. Senior Yessenia Teague has been wrestling for five years. Meaning she has seen it all, from wrestling more commonly boys, but every now and then girls as well. 

“It’s been different,“ Teague said. “It took a while to get used to wrestling girls, after wrestling guys for four years, but once my body got used to it I was happy with the change.” 

Teague had a season finish of 29-9 and ended up placing fifth in the groundbreaking state bracket. 

A key difference between girls and boys wrestling is simply the different builds of the body, and how different genders react to impact. 

According to Wrestle like a Girl, “Hips, strength, center of gravity, and flexibility differ between boys and girls.”

An interesting aspect of this new addition to the athletic word is the mindset the coaches grasp as well. 

“Our women athletes are treated just like our males,” head wrestling coach Nick Fulton said. “They practice and condition the same, have the same expectations, and workout alongside the high school team.” 

Encouraging coaches paired with a spunky team led to a great season for all who participated.

“I will definitely always encourage other girls to wrestle,” Teague said. “I think it’s an amazing sport for girls or even guys to get into.”