GENESEO, Ill. — The Geneseo girls' wrestling team is already finding success in their inaugural season. But it didn't come without a lot of hard work to get the team kickstarted.
While the 2023-2024 isn't the group's first year together, it is their first season officially as a team. Initially known as Geneseo Girls Wrestling Club, the group was having trouble getting the support they needed.
"We were still in boys' singlets, we didn't really have transportation the way we needed to," Grace Schilling said. "Once we started asking to get into tournaments and things, they were starting to turn us down — just because our thing said Geneseo girls wrestling club, not team," Gia Ritter said.
That's when Coach Carley Rusk came up with the idea to push for a team. The girls spoke with the school board and advocated for the sport they love. Their work paid off when the team became a fully supported district sport in Geneseo.
"It was just a moment of like, 'Wow, they did it,'" Rusk said. "All their hard work means something, not only just to me, but to our entire school. It meant it to everybody."
This season, the team had 12 girls advance to sectionals, which was hosted right at home in Geneseo. That's where three Maple Leaf wrestlers punched their ticket to the state tournament, which will take place Feb. 23 to 24 in Bloomington.
- Molly Snyder: Fourth place at 100 pounds
- Bella Cucuru: Third place at 125 pounds
- Lauren Piquard: Third place at 140 pounds
Rusk said that it takes a special kind of person to commit to wrestling.
"We always say to be a wrestler, you have to be crazy. And they bring it man, they are so fun. Every day, they shock me with something new," Rusk said.
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