Lady Raider Rumble: Girl wrestlers continue their push

Jan. 26—As many times as Brooklynn McClure has wrestled against boys, it was bound to happen.

Especially since she just so happens to be pretty good at it.

"I don't know names, but there's definitely been places where they were a lot rougher (than they needed to be)," the Shady Spring senior said, "because when they realized it wasn't going their way, they became a little bit sensitive about it and wanted to end the match pretty quick."

There are probably few, if any, female wrestlers who won't admit that boys have a decided advantage. That doesn't mean girls have never beaten boys, and it certainly doesn't mean they let it hold them back.

"You're reminded your whole life as a little girl that boys are stronger, but you can't think about that on the mat," Greenbrier East senior Josie Bennett said. "Just think about yourself and work hard. Don't think, 'Oh, just because he's a boy, I can't win.' Think that you can win."

For the most part, female wrestlers in West Virginia are going up against boys. As the push to get girls wrestling sanctioned in West Virginia continues, there is still only a few all-girls tournaments through the course of the season. The list has grown, however, and one being in its second year is the Lady Raider Rumble that was held Friday at Liberty High School.

It's another step in giving girls their chance to shine and compete on a more level stage. At a tournament like the Lady Raider Rumble, the girls seem to be more at ease while maintaining their competitive edge.

"The difference in mindset mainly is I go into a girls tournament with more confidence than I would a guys (tournament)," said Shady Spring junior Clara Ealy. "I go into a guys (tournament) wrestling more carefully, knowing my position a lot more than I would with girls."

McClure, a multiple-time girls state place winner and two-time qualifier for the boys state tournament, was second in the state at 107 pounds in the most recent state rankings.

"When it comes to wrestling girls, obviously you have to have two different mindsets," McClure said. "We're looking for a fair fight. Equal match, equal opportunity. And when it comes to guys, obviously you have to have the different mindset of they're biologically stronger. It's a different type of strategy that I have to use because, obviously, the strength difference and how they wrestle."

Ealy, who transferred to Shady Spring from North Carolina, which recently sanctioned girls wrestling, is having a successful season. She was fourth in the state at 107.

She said wrestling boys does help her strength wise when it comes time for a girls tournament.

"One hundred percent, because going with guys, you definitely have to wrestle harder, you have to wrestle faster, because guys are biologically stronger than (girls)," she said. "I don't have the strength to beat them. I've got to have the speed. Coming into here with girls, I know how to wrestle with my strength. I'm usually stronger, so there's definitely a good comparison. I don't come into girls (tournaments) just using my strength. I know how to use my feet as well."

"Especially when you're used to wrestling guys who are a lot stronger than you and just a lot rougher," McClure added. "When you come to wrestle girls, you realize, 'Wait a second. I'm not wrestling against somebody who is way stronger than me and a lot rougher.' That helps a lot, because you're already used to that and you go to a fair strength match."

Liberty sophomore Emma Hartshorn is in her first year in the sport and only wrestles girls at the request of her parents, so her experience is somewhat minimal. She went into Friday with only 10 matches under her belt.

She doesn't wrestle against boys — yet — but she remains as true to the quest as those who do. And she respects her opponents.

"At a girls tournament like this, I know I have to come in here with a really strong mindset because the other girls are fighting for the same thing," she said.

She decided to start wrestling so she could stay in shape, as a bridge between volleyball and softball.

"This sport always interested me, and I was like, 'Man, it would be cool if I wrestled,'" Hartshorn said. "It's cool to be a girl and say you wrestle. I might as well try it this year and I absolutely love it. It's super fun."

Bennett, the state's top-ranked 152-pounder, has the advantage of working out in practice every day with boys 150-pounder Austin Roberts.

"He puts some aggression on me, and I put it right back," Bennett said. "We both put two and two together and we combine that power to make it great. He helps me a lot."

The annual West Virginia Girls Invitational state tournament will be held in conjunction with the boys state tournament this season for the first time, a major step in getting big exposure for girls wrestling. It will take place at Mountain Health Arena on the final day simultaneously with the boys consolation semifinals and finals.

It's a move that is met with much excitement.

"I was honestly worried when they were holding it all on the same day, because I want to go watch my fellow teammates wrestle as well," Ealy said. "I think it's great that they're not just pushing us in some random middle school, some place random. They're putting us right next to, along with the boys, recognizing us as a sport."

"Very excited, because Parkersburg was crammed," Bennett said of the tournament's previous venue. "I'm ready to go out there and win and give it my all."

Hartshorn is looking forward to her states debut.

"I think it's super great that girls wrestling is becoming such a big thing and that a girls sport is getting this much attention," she said. "It's basically just as important as the boys, is how it feels when they put it all together."

When it comes to Huntington, McClure has been there, done that. That does nothing to dampen her excitement for the tournament.

"I'm pretty excited. A little nervous," she said. "Obviously I'm used to it where I qualified and wrestled at the boys state tournament, but this time it's the girls state tournament so I'm definitely nervous because it's a lot bigger crowd. But I'm super excited. We finally seem to be getting closer and closer to girls and boys (as separate sports)."

And, for the record, McClure has beaten boys before. In fact, she went 4-0 against boys on the first day of the Fallen Heroes Tournament in Beckley last month.

Consider it getting even for those times when boys pushed her around.

"Definitely an ego booster," she said with a smile. "I'm going against guys and I win four in a row. That's a really, really big ego boost."

Friday's results were not available at press time.