High school wrestling is a male-dominated sport. However, junior Sydney McDaniel defies this. McDaniel finished her first season wrestling for the Wildcats’ wrestling team this past winter, making her one of just a few females to ever wrestle for the team.

“I wanted to try a different sport, and my dad wrestled, so I thought I’d try it out,” said McDaniel. “It is my favorite sport.”

After years of contemplating joining the wrestling team, McDaniel finally decided this year was the year. McDaniel now competes in the 106-pound weight class for the ‘Cats.  

“I wanted to wrestle freshman year, but I ended up running track. And then sophomore year, I was kind of afraid to do it because I didn’t think I would fit in, and then this year, I finally just decided to go for it,” said McDaniel.

The popular stereotype of wrestling as a sport for males only has not phased McDaniel. Unsure of what to expect at first, she now has close bonds with the team and her coaches.

“The coaches have definitely supported me through everything and they have been a lot of help, not just in wrestling, but also outside,” said McDaniel.

Christopher Bowring, one of the wrestling coaches, said McDaniel has shown hard work, dedication and perseverance throughout the season.

“She works like any wrestler does,” said Bowring. “She’s a novice to the sport, but she participates just like any other boys do.”

Although McDaniel was unable to win an individual match this season, Bowring has noticed several improvements in her skill set. Both strength and technique are two abilities that Bowring said McDaniel has developed.

“I think that it’s going to be a while before she wins her first match, but I think that when that happens, it will be a pretty good celebration,” said Bowring.

McDaniel said she plans to wrestle in her senior season, and Bowring said he hopes McDaniel will stick with the sport.

“Just stay with it,” said Bowring. “That’s probably the biggest challenge for any wrestler, because it is a difficult sport to stay with. It’s challenging; it is hard to learn all the moves and deal with the disappointment of loss and be able to figure out what it is you are going to do next. I don’t have any specific expectations for Sydney, just to stay with it.”

As for the topic of females in wrestling, Bowring hopes the sport can see a change from being a male-dominated sport to one geared more towards females.

“Her father wrestled; she is aware of what it involves to some extent, so she knows what the overall sport entails,” said Bowring. “There are girls’ teams in Virginia; I didn’t realize it, but Ferrum has one. I think Virginia Tech is thinking about starting one. The west coast seems to be more politically understanding of the fact that women can compete and so there are more women’s teams-say for example UCLA, USC, Colorado-but here on the East Coast, I think we are a little more traditional, and we sort of put women in a position to get on the boys’ team.”

With the rise in female wrestling, it eventually may be a possibility that Rockbridge and other local high schools feature their own girls’ wrestling teams.

“I don’t think there is enough girls here in the high school to start a girls’ team yet, but she’s not the first girl I’ve coached at the high school, and so you know other schools have one or two girls on their team and seem to do alright,” said Bowring. “[McDaniel] is a welcome addition to the team.”