Girls wrestling has been very successful here at Ritenour this year, with multiple female wrestlers who have the stats to be able to back up this claim.
Some of the female wrestlers who have had strong seasons are Julia Nunez with a record of 18-6 and Tori Beard with a record of 19-7. Seniors Krisean Buchana and Calli Hodges have also performed well in their final season.
“Krisean is probably the most athletic in the group. Julia Nunez has mastered a couple of moves and now that she’s done that, she’s harder to beat, and Calli has been working extremely hard to qualify for state,” Coach John Howard said.
Howard has also been impressed with the members of the team and their commitment to wrestling while dealing with other outside commitments.
“Some of the girls just don’t wrestle and go to school, some of them have full-time jobs and most of the people don’t know the real struggle of that,” Howard said.
This year has been really motivating for the girls so much that it’s pushing them to work way harder than in previous years,
“My teammates give me motivation because seeing them work hard and push themselves makes me want to work harder for myself,” Nunez said.
The wrestlers say that in addition to their teammates pushing them to do well, they also get motivation from their coaches.
“My coaches try to help get and build up my confidence,” Egypt Draper said.
Howard coaches both the boys and girls wrestling team, but believes that the girls have had to make even bigger strides because of where they started when they began wrestling at the high school.
“The girls themselves motivate me to be a better coach because none of them started at 6, like most wrestlers do, instead they started their freshman year,” Howard said. “Watching them overcome the challenges that await them motivates me to be a better coach.”
Most of the girls are trying extremely hard to qualify for state. Hodges believes that this is a real possibility with the work she has put in this season.
“This year is different from the previous ones because I’ve been working harder and I have learned a lot of moves that have helped me so much more,” Hodges said. “Wrestling has helped me grow in self-discipline, learn more about myself, and push myself harder whenever things are tough.”
The wresters say that the sport has shaped them to be better people as well as athletes.
“It’s given me more discipline and helped me learn more about myself,” Draper said.