Waterloo West girls wrestling having successful inaugural season
WATERLOO, Iowa — West High鈥檚 newest athletic program, Girls鈥� Wrestling, is nearing the end of their first regular season ever.
The Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) gave Girls鈥� Wrestling the official authorization for the 2022鈥�2023 season at the beginning of 2022.
The Wahawks began their season on November 22, 2022 and opened the West High Siddens Gymnasium to the first ever Girls鈥� Wrestling Dual Meet in history which took place on December 1, 2022.
鈥淚 see the season going really well. We have a solid core of girls out right now who are improving every day in the room, gaining confidence, and having fun on the mat. The girls are all extremely supportive of each other and are continuously pushing each other to get better day in, and day out,鈥� head coach Josef Kadlec commented.
The Wahawks are nearing the end of their regular season with just a couple meets left. The team will compete in the State Qualifying Meet on Friday, January 27, hoping to earn their ticket to the State Tournament on February 2nd and 3rd in Coralville.
This new program is bringing a lot of excitement to the community. 鈥淓ach time the girls compete, I get told from community members to relay to the girls how impressed people are with their grit and improvement throughout the season. Only a couple of the girls had ever wrestled before this season, but with how far the girls have progressed throughout the season, you can’t always tell that they hadn’t wrestled before November,鈥� Kadlec said.
Junior Alexis Ott loves the commandery the Wahawks are building in their first year of the West High Girls鈥� Wrestling program. 鈥淚 love that all of the girls are very supportive and always are there to talk if you need them, no matter what the topic is,鈥� Ott added.
鈥淭he one thing I love most about my sport is the independence I have. I like knowing I鈥檓 relying on myself out on the mat, but also knowing that I have a team of people rallying behind me to push me to my best ability,鈥� sophomore Kammie Hoeck said.
Girls鈥� Wrestling is becoming a very popular sport, with added numbers every year. According to IGHSAU, there are presently close to 2,200 females wrestling at the high school level. The Wahawks currently have eight girls on their roster. Head coach Kadlec is looking forward to continuing to build the program from the ground up and grow the number of athletes.
Congratulations on your very first season, Wahawks!
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