9-28-2023 4:55am

BASH Girls' Wrestling Gears Up

Lesley Misko Editor

Maddy Rapp, a freshman last year, qualified for States in her first year wrestling.

by Philip E. Repko

An old saw says that adversity doesn’t build character; it reveals it. In that same vein, individual sports such as swimming, track, and wrestling are built on the belief that the participant’s toughest opponent is always himself or herself. Consequently, the individual who pursues the challenge of these sports is certainly a special or peculiar type of athlete.

Of course, individual sports are team sports, but the “I” in those teams is CRITICAL in every nuance of the word.

Now take those challenges at least two or three degrees further. Imagine you are one of the Founding Five of the inaugural Boyertown Area Senior High Girls’ Wrestling Program. Those young women - Maddy Rapp, Keyra Seville, Skylar Bohn, Trinity Miller, and Abby Davies – encountered not only the adversity and difficulty that are inherent in all the individual sports. In addition, they noticed the muttered comments and the sidelong glances, and the quietly doubtful whispers that follow the birth of a new sport. Add to that the hurdles faced by young women who have decided to tackle a brand of competition that has been historically male – and until recent years – male only.

Janna Christine and her husband, Nick, weathered the 1st year adversity that accompanied the 2022-2023 season, but Janna, the head coach, declared year one a definite success. BASH Girls’ Wrestling arrived on the scene, and they were weighted, measured, and found to be fantastic. Coach Christine pointed out that “Maddy Rapp was a State qualifier in her first year of wrestling, and Keyra Seville was a regional qualifier. Keyra fell just short of reaching States.” Senior Trinity Miller graduated this year, but three returning wrestlers have been training – pursuing adversity and mastering it – ever since the season ended back in March. Coach Christine is confident that the roster will grow from 5 to 10 this winter, and plans to build the program by aligning the girls’ program with the spirit of camaraderie and shared success that is part of all Boyertown athletic competition.

Coach Christine noted that the girls competed primarily at open tournaments. This was a direct consequence of the relative youth of the sport in PA. Most of the teams are developing complete rosters, just as Boyertown is. These tournaments ranged from large slates of 150+ athletes, to a more modest and local limit of 50-75. Christine emphasized that a high percentage of girls fall into to mid-range weight class, so there tends to be tremendous competition in the middle weights.

Sometimes, the boys’ and girls’ tournaments were held in a central location. In those cases, the girls “showed up to cheer on and support the boys’ program when the teams were together.” The coaches are certain to build on that spirit of shared effort, hoping to see the wrestlers, as well as the athletes on fall and spring teams, join in on the inspiring wave of interest and success.

Both Rapp and Seville were freshmen last year, and each made significant strides on her way to wrestling excellence. Moreover, they have been building strength and acquiring wrestling skill, along with Skylar Bohn, with fortitude and commitment, since the season ended. Team members have been engaged in wrestling almost every day since the season ended.

The next steps to building and improving the program are currently in place, as the BTC (Bear Training Center,) a function of the BAWA – Boyertown Area Wrestling Association – has incorporated training opportunities for aspiring coaches and wrestlers in the girls’ program. Housed in the basement of the Boyertown Ambulance Center, the Center is a space where extending the wrestling family has a chance to happen organically. Coach Christine believes “the adoption and establishment of the program is going to come from the wrestling communities, the youth program, the boys’ program, and the girls’ program all working together.” The BTC has hosted experts, including Trinity Monaghan from the Lock Haven University Women’s Wrestling team. “We’re trying to provide training for coaches, as well as athletes, through all the off-season activities”

The coaching staff acknowledges that they have obvious work to do. Opportunities abound, but having young women investigate their interest in wrestling can be fraught with traditions, biases, and attitudes that are part of all new activities and competitive sports. Over the past twenty years, girls have fought for the opportunity to wrestle, with the only platform being the boys’ programs. Since the advent of the girls’ teams, the conundrum for the experienced female wrestler is to continue challenging herself against the highest competition that comes with those established programs, or to champion the nascent rise of girls’ wrestling throughout the state.

Coach Christine spent much of her life with interest in wrestling, having come from a family where wrestling was sometimes a way of life. But the rule when she was in high school was that she needed to have a girl to wrestle for practice purposes. Janna did have male friends on the wrestling team, but the family never considered having her wrestle with boys. Her brother, Jordan, has been among the elite wrestlers in the NCAA, after completing a career at Lehigh University. Jordan has also competed internationally, and is one of some acclaimed wrestlers who have delivered clinics to girls in the program. He and the others aspire to help as the program becomes embedded in the culture of the community.

One monumental development for Girls’ Wrestling in PA is its sanctioning by the PIAA. For the 2023-2024 season, 100 Pennsylvania schools have committed to fostering a schedule and a season for Girls’ Wrestling. The programs will also be subject to post-season opportunities and tournaments, with serves to recruit even more wrestlers. In the words of the coach, “In the spirit of Title IX, this is a great thing. It isn’t fair to take away the chance to wrestle from someone who isn’t comfortable wrestling with the boys.” Having a program exclusively for girls means more and broader opportunities.

Now, as the coach and her community move on to the upcoming season, the areas that need attention will simply not be met with sweeping gestures or marketing ploys. Coach Christine has conviction that they will find a place for girls who are interested in wrestling. Coach Christine is certain that the girls who says, “I don’t know where I belong. Or I don’t belong anywhere --- You probably belong on the mat.”

Coach Christine elaborates: “Though the sport is a team sport, it is still a constant individual test. What you put into, you get out of it.” In addition, the sports is so often built into the dynamic of families, that the mat can be where a person can go beyond the desire to ‘fit in” and achieve the higher plateau of belonging. After all, if you ‘fit in,’ you are changing to meet the expectations of others. When you belong, and you dare to face the adversity, you are beyond the constraint of other’s opinions.

Coach Christine concludes, “If you come out for wrestling, you will become a better person, even if you don’t become a great wrestler.”

The wrestling community is sure to rally around this new and exciting program. See you on the mat this winter.

[*A 1979 graduate of Boyertown Area Senior High, Philip Repko returned to BASH to teach English for many years. In 2007, he left to become an assistant principal in the Daniel Boone School District. He is now the recently retired principal of Saint Mary Catholic School in Schwenksville.]