DOWNINGTOWN — With every slash across the mat and ascent up a podium, that mythical pen scribes the history of girls wrestling into the tablets that will forever tell their story.
As the decades pass, when people look back at the foundation of girls wrestling in this area, they will read of Jaffe and Pearson and Strickland, O’Byrne, Gautreau and Logue, among others.
When the PIAA sanctioned girls wrestling in 2023, opportunity was born, and these girls not only relish the chance, but embrace the significance of the building blocks they’re setting.
“It means a lot to me because I’ve always wanted this,” Sun Valley junior Jameson Strickland said. “The newer generations of girls, they will have grown up wrestling girls because there’s so many more. But especially our group, we were kind of one of the first groups to have to deal with growing up wrestling boys and I’m just very happy that the generations after us will have girls to wrestle with.”
Strickland is one of the flag bearers for girl wrestlers in this region of District 1. After placing fourth in the inaugural girls state tournament, Strickland reached the finals as a sophomore, earning silver.
Downingtown West’s Sarah Pearson reached the finals a year ago, as well, in just her second season of wrestling. Three years ago, Pearson didn’t know what a sweep single was and now she has a record of 65-17 with 56 pins and is on pace to crack 100 for both.
“Wrestling has really changed my life,” Pearson said. “In middle school I was trying to find something to do because I felt like whatever sports I did, I felt like I just didn’t belong. I joined the women’s wrestling team at every tournament I made a new friend. All these girls are so inviting, and it’s so nice just to meet all these new girls. I felt like I belonged and we have so many new girls on our team and it’s great. I’m so excited for them to go to these tournaments and make all these new friends because of the great experience I had. I think it’s just really cool to be setting a foundation because something that changed my life will change so many others to come.”
This is not just a fun hobby or a social club for these girls. There are now over 150 college women’s wrestling programs, between the three divisions. That means more opportunities at the next level and more competition to build those resumés as the pool deepens each year.
Along with Strickland and Pearson’s silvers, Owen J. Roberts’ Jenny Gautreau took third and Raylyn Schwoyer was eighth, Bishop Shanahan’s Shannon Logue earned seventh and Garnet Valley’s Neve O’Byrne claimed Delco’s first girls state title.
Many others reached Hershey and have their sights set on some hardware.
“It’s definitely pretty cool, knowing where like the first generation of girls to actually wrestle,” said Coatesville’s Jaylynn Reeder, who qualified for states last year. “You know, there’s a lot of scholarships and everything for us, and I’m hoping it keeps getting bigger for girls wrestling.”
Individually, girls wrestling has taken off. Team-wise, it’ll take some time for programs to build full rosters, but Owen J. Roberts’ roster is already in the teens and Kennett has 24 girls on the squad this season.
“I’m really proud and excited that I get to be part of the start of girls’ wrestling,” Schwoyer said. “And the future of it.”
The future is coming fast. For pioneers around the area like Mary Johnson, Haylie Jaffe and Sienna Landrum, breaking into the scene meant doing it predominantly against boys. Johnson, then Nichols, was the first girl to qualify for districts by placing top-five at leagues. Jaffe won state tournaments prior to the PIAA sanctioning, as well as competitions on the global scene.
She’s currently ranked No. 2 in the country at McKendree University. Landrum was a state champ before the sanctioning and a runner-up at PIAAs as a junior.
Competing against boys is still a right of passage to some extent. Avon Grove sisters, Kaitlynn and Emma Arnold, wrestle on the boys team until the postseason, and West freshman, Layla Namerow, won an all-boys league bracket at the Chester County Challenge last winter.
Namerow and future Whippet, Madison Helms, won 14U USA Women’s Freestyle Nationals titles against other girls.
Namerow has been wrestling nine years and as she begins her high school career, she already has the perspective of paying it forward.
“It’s really inspiring because it’s nice to see other girls who are younger than me wanting to get into it too,” Namerow said. “So it makes me want to make sure I perform my best so that that’s what they look up to.”
The Arnold sisters can relate. Kaitlyn Arnold heads into her senior year having placed seventh in the state as a sophomore. She, as well as Emma Arnold, OJR’s Gianna Jones and Reeder are returning state qualifiers.
“Watching my younger sister grow up has not only shaped me into a better woman, but helped me teach her how to become a better woman, as well,” Kaitlyn Arnold said. “It’s great watching the sport grow and having a younger sister and watching her grow as well.”
Emma concurred.“Being able to look up to someone is definitely something that I’m really glad we could do together,” Emma said.
The first two seasons of PIAA girls wrestling have come with mixed reviews. Of course there’s a group who opposes change and would prefer the boys and girls tournaments to be separate.
There are also those who welcome the change, and while the octaves of the crowd get a little higher with the girls in the fray, the competition will only catch up as the girls scene continues to bloom.
“The talent is raising up pretty quick,” West coach Brad Breese said. “I think it’s advancing quicker than male wrestling did, way back when. So if it took 50 years for men’s wrestling to get to where it was, I think women’s wrestling is getting there much, much quicker. If you look at international wrestling and see where women’s national team was five years ago, and now we’re winning world titles. It’s just spring-boarding so quickly, the talent, the numbers it’s really producing quickly.”
Don’t blink. You might miss history.
