Wrestling— the first thing that springs to mind is probably a muscular, sweaty guy, tackling another muscular, sweaty guy.

Now imagine one of them was a girl. 

“I absolutely love being a part of wrestling,” sophomore Quinn Hogan said. “Yes, it is a lot of hard work, but it’s so worth in the end.” 

Hogan is one of five girls on the wrestling team, and she feels accepted with the other guys. “It’s actually a lot like having 30 older brothers,” Hogan said. “They tease us and make fun of us but we all have each other’s backs and are good friends.”

Hogan has the encouragement of her family and friends along with her “30 older brothers”.

“I talked to my parents before joining and they’re supportive,” Hogan said. “Most of my friends were supportive and thought it was cool that I decided to join wrestling. Of course, a lot of them were worried for me because I’m small. Some people think it’s weird, but the majority thinks it is really cool.”

 Although Hogan loves the sport, she knows the consequences of taking part in it.

“Wrestling is a sport that requires lots of endurance,” Hogan said. “There is no other sport like it. Wrestling is both a team sport and an individual sport.”

After her first tournament on Nov. 12, Hogan has learned a lot from her team, the experience, and from the fight itself.

“One thing I learned from the tournament was there’s basically one emotion we can’t replicate in practice,” Hogan said. “And that’s fear.”

Hogan has jumped over a lot of obstacles to be in wrestling, including grades and her part as a violinist in the orchestra.

“I will admit it has been difficult for me to keep up with grades as well,” Hogan said. “Despite all that, I absolutely love it.”

Wrestling coach and social studies teacher, Coach Bill Dushane, is pleased with the recognition of girls in the sport.

“We have had girls wrestling now for about eight years,” Dushane said. “They are an integral part of the program, and are welcomed in by the boys.”

Dushane is proud of their scores in the last meet on Nov. 19 in Cy-Ridge, with Villarreal placing second and DeLeon placing fourth.

“The girls did very well over the weekend,” Dushane said. “Captain Emily Greenstein went 4-2, and Quinn Hogan also wrestled well.”

Sophomore wrestler TJ Barranger is comfortable with the girls on the team, saying that he’s used to having them around, so there’s no rivalry.

“Girls wrestling is like boys wrestling,” Barranger said. “It’s not more competitive, because I’m already very competitive.”

 Wrestling includes keeping a certain weight by certain time and cannot even be .01 pounds over, which Hogan has struggled with.

“We are all constantly working out and watching our weight,” Hogan said. “In fact, making weight for a meet is one of the most stressful things I’ve gone through.”

Nevertheless, Hogan plans to carry on with the sport into the distant future.

“It is a difficult sport,” Hogan said. “But it is fun and something I plan to do for the rest of high school.”