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Female Wrestlers Grapple with Gender Bias on the Mat Maya Virdell and Hannah Whobrey Sports and Features Editors
For Lily Clark and Lena Hardisty, pursuing their chosen sport — wrestling — means challenging the stigma that has surrounded this traditionally male-dominated sport for years. In the US, there are only seven states — Alaska, California, Hawaii, Tennessee, Texas and Washington — with designated high school competitions for female wrestlers. Girls in other states must choose between not competing at all or wrestling against boys. In Hawaii and Texas, however, girls and boys are prohibited from wrestling against each other. With little opportunity for female wrestlers in high school, this co-ed sport typically has very few girls on the team. This year, MIHS Wrestling has hit a high in female enrollment. “The first several years I coached, we had no girls at the team at all, and then we would have one or two,” head coach Lee Jahncke said. “This year is on the upper end; we’ve got six female wrestlers, which is exciting and positive.” There are 26 wrestlers total on the team this year. “Lena Hardisty and Lily Clark are both experienced wrestlers,” Jahncke said. “We also have four foreign exchange students, I was not expecting it, but I was super excited and pleased, and they’re doing a great job so far this year.” For Clark and Hardisty, the lack of other girls on teams has been a constant. “I think not a lot of girls join wrestling because it’s known as a guys’ sport, similar to the gender stereotypes of football,” Clark said. “A lot of girls don’t know you can join wrestling [or] they don’t always feel comfortable wrestling with boys.” For Italians Irene Cozzi, Ines De Francisco and Guili De Benedetti, and German Lydia Riedel, wrestling is a chance to try something different. “I feel excited because it is a new opportunity that we as girls are given,” Cozzi said. “It can be scary at first, but the fact that we are given the same opportunity [as boys] to have fun and be successful in what we do is challenging and exciting at the same time.” Although female wrestlers follow most of the same rules as guys, there are a few exceptions to account for physical differences. “The weight classes for girls are a little bit different, [and] many female wrestlers have longer hair, so they have to wear a special hair covering to keep their hair under control so that it doesn’t get pulled or hooked — it’s a safety issue,” Jahncke said. At practice, Hardisty and Clark usually partner with their male teammates. In competitions, the gender of their opponent varies. “There’s not quite as many opportunities for female wrestlers as there are for male wrestlers,” Jahncke said. “Most of the other teams within our league either don’t have any female wrestlers or have very few, so they may not match up at the same weights as our female wrestlers.” “Girls have the option to choose to wrestle in boys’ competitions against boys, under the boys’ weight classes, if they want to,” Jahncke said. “Sometimes, girls who are really, really good will choose to do that, because they feel like sometimes they can get more or better competition, but there’s no expectation or requirement for anything like that.” As a co-ed sport, the wrestling team strives to be inclusive of all its athletes. (continued on page 5)
MERCER IS SCHOOL DIST 400
December 14, 2018
IN THIS ISSUE FEATURES 3
Seniors Look Towards Military Sevice
FEATURES 4
Students Follow Passions with Part Time Jobs
SPREAD 6-7 The
Unsung Heroes of the MIHS staff
OPINIONS 9
Class and Privilege on Mercer Island
A&E 10 The MIHS
Islander’s Top Songs of 2018
A&E 11 The Effects of Fast Fashion on Student’s Wardrobes
Photos by Hannah Whobrey Hardisty faces Rebecca Bonsi from Newport. Clark was unable to participate after her male opponent refused to wrestle a girl.