The girls’ wrestling team will compete in what the players believe to be one of their most important matches, the District Duels. The match is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 17 in Haltom City. The girls believe they have been experiencing a prosperous season due to their improvements uniting as a whole. 

“I think we are having a really successful season,” head coach Karra Stratton said. “I think there is a lot of growth that has happened between last year and this year. We lost some pretty big hitters and seniors last year and I’m curious to see how we do. If everyone can make weight and everybody can be healthy, we will do just fine.”

The girls’ team now trains with the boys’ team and players believe this contributes to improvements in their connection and way of competing. Working as one has brought new opportunities for both teams to learn from each other.

“Because we have the boys’ team with us, it’s made us better to be more aggressive and made us better as a team being together,” senior captain Tatianna Nieto said.

Stratton believes the athletes’ dedication to the sport is what allows them to compete well. Continuing to make progress as the season intensifies and keeping their motivation is an important factor for the team to stay on a successful path.  

“I think they are fighters,” Stratton said. “We don’t always have the most wrestling knowledge on the mat but our varsity lineup has the fight we need them to have.”

Senior captain Charity Castañeda evaluates the importance of unity the team has developed and how it has affected her. Castañeda noticed how the teams improvements taught her valuable lessons. 

“You go through life as an individual but it’s a group effort trying to get yourself through and everyone else,” Castañeda said. “That’s what wrestling has taught me. When you wrestle, it’s individual but it affects the team.”

The team continuing to make progress and build its toughness is what Stratton believes will improve the outcome in vital matches such as the District Duels. With district rankings rapidly approaching, the team aims to see as much improvement as possible.

“I think we have come a long way in being fighters,” Stratton said. “At the beginning of the year, we struggled with getting off our back and not letting our opponents take us down. We have come a long way in just toughening up and realizing we don’t let them score, we score off their offense.”