East Hardy Girls Wrestling members show toughness wearing black, not pink attire practicing for the upcoming WVSSAC Girls State Wrestling Invitational Tournament being held at Parkersburg South High School this Saturday.
The Cougars will be sending six female wrestlers to compete in this inaugural tournament which has garnered interest from at least 40 participants statewide and there are different weight classes compared to the boys division.
“They all decided to compete on February 8th. I am excited for all of them to be a part of this. SierraMarie has worked for years to compete in something like this. On the other hand we have first year wrestlers who are working hard to get better to represent East Hardy at this event. All of the girls are excited for this and I am excited for them,” East Hardy Wrestling coach Stevie Miller said.
East Hardy Wrestling freshman Gabreanna Miller will be in the 143-lb. class, sophomore Madison Heishman will grapple in the 100-lb. weight class, sophomore Courtney Shank will be in the 161-lb. class, sophomore Victoria Ames will be in the 136-lb. class, junior SierraMarie Miller will be in the 118-lb. class and junior Erin Riggle will be in the 147-lb. class.
There are five competitors in the classes for Heishman, Riggle and both Miller girls in Parkersburg, while four are in the class for Ames and three are competing in Shank’s division.[private]
SierraMarie Miller is the only East Hardy wrestler with experience on the team which includes the WVSSAC state wrestling tournament in Huntington battling the boys last year.
All of these young ladies are up to the challenge and excited to be involved in this special invitational.
“I enjoy the sport because of the competition and how pure the sport is. It doesn’t allow for excuses,” East Hardy Wrestling junior captain SierraMarie Miller remarked.
“I am really excited and I have been doing this for awhile. I am glad it is happening while I am still in high school.”
“This is my first year doing it, but I am pretty excited about it,” East Hardy Wrestling sophomore Courtney Shank noted.
“This is my first year and I have wrestled more guys than I’ve lost. I think wrestling girls will be a better experience,” East Hardy Wrestling junior Erin Riggle said.
“This is also my first year and I don’t think many people can say they have this opportunity and went in their first year wrestling in the sport. It is exciting,” East Hardy sophomore Victoria Ames commented.
“I am very proud to represent East Hardy, especially in my first year. It is exciting to do something new,” East Hardy sophomore Madison Heishman stated.
“I am really excited and it will be my first time wrestling in a match. I really enjoy working on all the moves in practice,” East Hardy Wrestling freshman Gabreanna Miller added.
West Virginia still has girls and boys wrestling together, while there are 18 states that have separate programs.
Currently there are 46 colleges and universities offering women’s wrestling including Mountain State’s Alderson Broaddus University where East Hardy alum Emili Flynn signed to join the first female Batters team.
According to the National Federation of High Schools there were 21,735 girls wrestling in 2019 which is a huge jump from 804 competitors in 1994 as the sport as seen tremendous growth.
East Hardy Girls Wrestling members are ready to make an impact at the state level this weekend.[/private]