JACKSON – In October 2018, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association made the Garden State the first in the Northeast and 12th in the nation to produce a new variety of wrestling from the fertile soil found here – girls wrestling. At the vanguard of the movement, two Shore Conference high schools made history, participating in the first dual wrestling meet in New Jersey on Dec. 14, when Manalapan hosted the meet against Jackson Memorial and welcomed a crowd both eager to support and curious to see how an all-girls wrestling match would play out.
“We were very excited to host the first girls dual meet in the state,” said Manalapan Athletic Director Rodney K. Taylor. “This was groundbreaking.”
Starting practice in November with 15 girls, 12 pioneering Jackson Memorial wrestlers showed up that Friday to take part in that monumental day as the Jaguars travelled to Manalapan and became a part of history.
Doug Withstandley is in his 12th year as wrestling coach at Jackson Memorial and spoke about changes in the high school wrestling world. “In my 12 years coaching wrestling at Jackson, I’ve only had one girl wrestle prior to this year. We started out having 19 girls initially sign up, 15 ultimately showed up and we lost a few to other obligations and one to injury. That’s impressive!”
When asked how the inaugural season of having an actual girl’s team has gone and participating in the first dual meet in state history, Withstandley responded without hesitation, “It’s been really fun. The girls are extremely competitive and (in the first meet with Manalapan) both teams did great. The girls display a high level of skill and technique, along with putting in hard work. They’ve been a pleasure. I find the girls much more attentive and more focused than the guys. The ratio of females quitting the team is much lower than the guys. The girls are positive everyday, I’m really proud.
“The girls participate in all of the drills the boys do, including a 20-foot vertical rope climb in practice,” continued Withstandley. “The boys have been great as well, accepting the girls as their sisters on the team and working to help them develop their skills and get better. Our ultimate goal is to have a full varsity girls season – separate team, separate coaches, separate schedule.”
Participating in the inaugural season for the Lady Jaguars are sophomore Gianna Tandari (105 pounds), junior Avery Meyers (127 pounds), sophomore Kayla Gregory (127 pounds), freshman Skyelar Smith (138 pounds), junior Shannon Stroud (138 pounds), sophomore Brandi Rado (138 pounds), freshman Abby Stanburry (147 pounds), sophomore Nadia Aho (161 pounds), junior Madison Pasavage (161 pounds), junior Alley Mayer (185 pounds), freshman Jordyn Katz (185 pounds), and sophomore Gina Novello (195 pounds).
Currently, the Jackson Memorial girls wrestling program as constituted is a part of the boys JV program and the girls, if willing, will wrestle against the boys when and where a female opponent is not available. “I encourage the girls to wrestle against the boys to help them grow in the sport; however, I’m not mad or disappointed with them if they choose not to. We had one of our girls injured in a meet, wrestling a boy. He picked her up and slammed her to the mat, using an illegal technique and injured her neck. That incident scared some of our girls and made some afraid to wrestle against the boys. We now only have three girls who will wrestle competitively against the boys.
“I like the way the sport is progressing. I wrestled competitively and in my college days, I worked out with women involved in the US Olympic program. I experienced women who were recognized No. 1 or No. 2 in the world in wrestling. I see it growing,” said Withstandley, whose advocacy for females in the sport bursts through.
Some immediate problems hampering the growth of girls wrestilng at the varsity level are gym space and time as shared with other teams during the winter sports season, a need for coaches hired specifically for the girls program, inappropriate conduct during competition and additional weight class development. Potential solutions offered by Withstandley include moving girls wrestling to spring or fall, making gym space available, promotion and growth of the girls program to numbers of 20 or more per team to support a stand-alone program and continue to address the personal development of young people and address appropriateness of behavior in this space and lastly, discussion with the NJSIAA to expand weight classes from the current maximum of 10 and maybe slide the scale to include more heavier weight classes.
Coach Withstandley and his inaugural Lady Jaguars wrestlers serve as strong advocates for girls wrestling, and will help usher in a new day, providing additional opportunities for the growth of all NJ youth participating in high school wrestling.
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