Raritan Girls Wrestling: Growth in Appeal and Participation

 Raritan Girls Wrestling: Growth in Appeal and Participation

By Eugene Stewart
 
HAZLET – What a difference a year makes! Just last year, New Jersey’s first sanctioned girls high school wrestling dual meet was held at Manalapan High School. The host Lady Braves were bested by the Lady Jaguars of Jackson Memorial, 30-21. This was followed by a fully sanctioned regular season of interscholastic girls wrestling. School districts across the state placed teams of girls on the mat following the template laid by the boys programs, complete with regional and statewide competitions. 
 
What a difference a year makes!  With popularity continuing to grow, this year’s schedule could include so many participants, multiple locations for the regions, instead of simply one, might be necessary. 
 
One of the first teams breaking down the door to usher in girls wrestling in New Jersey last year was Raritan. The prideful feelings of Raritan wrestling head coach Melissa Gardner are clearly evident when speaking of her team, girls wresting in high school, the progress made in the sport in such a short period of time, and her thoughts on where the sport is headed on all levels.    
 
As a fourth-year coach with Raritan, now her second with a full team of girls, Gardner has plenty to be excited about. Starting the year with several of her 11 wrestlers having gained experience from last year, Gardner is very happy with the growth and development of her squad, even as some of her brightest stars and most seasoned girls have not been active participants with her this season.
 
The first blow was the transfer of Christine Gavesheli, the 118-pound state champion as a freshman, who moved to Florida.  As with any sport, the loss of a state champion is very impactful as you lose leadership, experience and a great element for growing your program. In addition, a very popular, very strong wrestler, Mia Lazarus, touted as one of the 2020 greats in the state in athletics overall, hasn’t participated competitively this year. She has battled a lingering shoulder injury which may require surgery.  Then as if that was enough, while working out to stay in shape, she rolled her ankle. Lazarus, a junior at the 215 pound weight class, was expected to be a major component for this year’s team.  
 
Sophomore Jazleen Guzman is a rising star for the Lady Rockets at 121 pounds, who placed fourth in the regions last year. Rounding out the team are two additional upperclassmen with a balance of freshmen.
 
“I feel very good about our team,” stated Gardner. “We’re young with a good deal of experience and although young, there is a lot of leadership.”
 
With girls wrestling just two years on the NJ interscholastic scene, Gardner shared her thoughts about where the sport is, where she sees it going and what types of challenges she sees in the sport. 
 
“Having coached in Raritan for four years, during my first two years I only had one or two girls participating with the boys team,” she said. “This past year we had a few more and now we have a full squad with 11 girls. Just with that, it’s clear the interest is growing more and more with each year. The idea of girls wrestling is becoming more and more accepted.”
 
Gardner, herself an accomplished purple belt in jiu-jitsu and MMA fighter with seven fights under her belt, is also a very active advocate for girls in the sport and no stranger to the hand-to-hand competition. 
 
Gardner not only coaches the girls, but is helping to provide training opportunities for girl wrestlers to strengthen the footprint of the sport in the state. She assisted with a seminar for the sport last summer at Princeton University. “While the interest in girls high school wrestling is growing, the college level is exploding,” Gardner said. “This helps also to move closer to wrestling becoming a big scholarship opportunity for girls.”  
 
One of the major challenges identified by Gardner as having negative impact on the growth of high school wrestling for girls is the lack of solid middle school programs.  Currently, many schools don’t even have varsity programs. Usually where you find girls varsity wrestlers, they’ve started as club or recreation program wrestlers. Middle school programs are extremely scarce.  
 
“Recreation starts them out, at middle school it usually stops, which creates a gap, then programs resume in high school,” Gardner explained. “This provides a three-year period where the continuity of mental, physical and psychological development is broken and opens the door to diminished interests, if not a complete numbness and lack of interest in the sport after that imposed hiatus.  As a ninth grader, the doors are again opened and the opportunity to participate against other schools and the pride in representing your team is reignited.”  
 
What a difference a year makes!  Many obstacles have been taken down and overcome, yet still many more remain. The commitment of the Raritan girls wrestling team and Gardner is unwavering in seeing this through. Don’t be surprised to see that middle school void filled and Gardner to have something to do with it.
 
TagsWinter