GHSA Championships leading to more girls joining wrestling

STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. - When Stone Mountain High School sophomore Jaela Calvin’s mother first heard that her daughter wanted to join the high school wrestling team, she was a little nervous.

“Because before wrestling, the most athletic thing I’d done was dance. From dance to drama to wrestling she was kind of a little nervous about it.”

Girls joining high school wrestling teams is nothing new, but instead of just one girl here and there, a change made by the Georgia High School Association in 2018 is helping bring more girls to the mat. In February of 2019 the GHSA held its first all-female state wrestling championships. Champions were crowned in 10 different weight classes. Stone Mountain junior Daisy Gilleylen made it all the way to the final match, and finished as state runner-up in the 136 lb. weight class.

That performance was what helped bring Calvin off the sidelines.

“It was really amazing and mind-blowing,” says Calvin. “That really sealed the deal for me wanting to join wrestling.”

Stone Mountain now has five girls on their wrestling team. When Gilleylen first started wrestling as a freshman she was the only female, wrestled only boys and didn’t yet have an all-girls state title to compete for. She has made it her mission to recruit other girls to join her.

“I was like maybe if other girls try it, they might actually like it too and enjoy it,” says Gilleylen.

Stone Mountain head coach Emmanuel Williams has watched as Gilleylen has taken on a role as a leader on the team.

“Daisy’s been a lot of the inspiration behind them toughing it out,” says Williams.

Williams says that things aren’t any different with a hand full of girls now on his team and the coach is happy to see the lessons that he knows wrestling can teach reaching a new audience.

“It’s an awesome thing to watch this sport grow people and for them to push through the stuff that would make other people quit,” says Williams.

And as for Jaela Calvin’s mom who was so nervous about her daughter joining wrestling?

“She comes to every match,” says Calvin.