The LTHS wrestling team has had many outstanding victories in the past. All of these are won by great hard work and effort. The team, mostly comprised of male athletes, is now becoming a sport that more female athletes are taking part in.

Coach Oster says, “We’ve had girls on the team for a long time. Jolisa Gold was on the team about 10 years ago. We had Haley Augello as well who represented the U.S. in the Olympics this summer.”

After asking if he saw a difference in coaching boys versus coaching girls, he says, “It’s not a lot different; there are some techniques that work better for different kids, but that’s everyone. We respect everyone as wrestlers and treat them that way. We treat everyone the same, so it’s a great accomplishment to make it through our demanding season.”

When asked about the girls’ accomplishments during the season, he says, “Izzy just placed 4th at the first Illinois Girls State Tournament. She also placed 6th at SWSC JV Conference.”

Izzy Ladd and Jazmen Barga are just two of the girls who took part in LTHS wrestling this past season. Izzy says, “At this age, wrestling against boys is difficult because they have more strength than I do. I warm up with them the same as they warm up with other team mates. Wrestling for warming up is normal for me.”

When asked if she ever gets looked down upon by other team members for being a girl on the team, she says, “I do not, mostly because the sport is growing for females, and the boys are starting to be more open.”

With this said, female athletes are becoming more involved in what was once a sport that was almost only reserved for males.