Fredericktown High School has a brand new wrestling program for girls, and Coach Greg Davidson is looking forward to building something special with a team full of first-time wrestlers.
“It’s been exciting to be able to start a program from scratch,” Davidson said. “The support we have gotten has been amazing. This year will be a learning process, for sure. We know we will need to learn from our mistakes in the beginning of the season. By the end of the year, we expect there to be a lot of success.”
Girls wrestling was sanctioned in January 2022 by the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association. The first-ever state meet will be held in March at the Schottenstein Center at The Ohio State University.
Davidson said the team’s slogan is “building tradition,” and having a girls’ team the first year that the sport was sanctioned is a huge deal. He said the girls on his squad are setting the standard for the teams that follow.
“We have discussed how girls wrestling being a sanctioned sport in Ohio is way overdue,” he said. “To be part of the fastest-growing sport in the country is an amazing thing. We just had another girl join the team because she wanted to be a part of what we are building. It may sound corny, but the girls are changing our little corner of the world. It is bigger than just wrestling.”
There was high interest right from the beginning. Wrestler Elsa Hoam recruited Davidson to coach just days after the sport was sanctioned by the Ohio High School Athletic Association. Eight girls were already interested, but this number fluctuated as time went on. At one point, the team was down to only Hoam, but this was no reason for them to stop pushing to build.
“It's really hard to tell Elsa no,” Davidson said. “People love to be around her and don't want to disappoint her. Now, we have nine high school girls and three junior high girls wrestling."
The Fredericktown school community offered a multitude of support. This includes the administration, athletic boosters, and the boys wrestling coach, Casey Hoeflich.
Davidson said they wanted to make sure they could have a successful program from the start. Hoam’s mother, Ellen, also showed major support even before Davidson was recruited.
“I’m not sure how this program would make it without all of the support we have gotten,” Davidson said.
Davidson has been coaching on and off for approximately one decade. He coached for Fredericktown when the boys' program was beginning. He coached at the varsity and junior high levels for Brent Rastetter, who currently is the head coach at Otterbein. Davidson said coaching for Rastetter allowed him to be around a premier program, which has benefited his coaching style to this day.
“I've tried to take things I've learned from my coaches and those I've coached with,” Davidson said. “I feel that makes me a better coach and helps the girls, as well.”
Davidson admitted that he expects ups and downs in the team’s inaugural season. But, he has high hopes that his three seniors can provide leadership to help the young girls progress for years to come. He said the biggest challenge to overcome was to get the girls to commit, as none of them had ever wrestled. He said it was a “huge leap of faith.”
“I'm proud of the team for being the first girl wrestlers in the school,” Davidson said. “We want the younger girls to learn the fundamentals that they can use next year, as well. At the same time, there are three seniors who will only have this season. I want them to have a positive and successful season. It's exciting.”
The senior wrestlers include Hoam, Hannah Bressi, and Aliyah Lowry; Davidson said they are the ones to keep our eyes on.
The team has struggled with injuries early; last week, only four girls were able to practice. While this was tricky, Davidson said the team is starting to get healthy again. He said he wants to keep things simple this season and not focus on the wins and losses. He said the team can measure its success on improvement and effort in matches.
Davidson added that there are some tough tournaments ahead of them, including the Bishop Watterson tournament and a two-day tournament in Bellefontaine called The Iron Maiden. He said he hopes these tournaments will help the team get ready for their own invitational in February.
Fredericktown will be at a meet with 49 teams on Dec. 16 at Findlay High School. Results were unavailable at press time.
