Sugar an Spice and ready to rumble

Girls wrestling growing in Anderson county

January 3, 2024 by Ken Lay

Girls wrestling is one of the fastest-growing high school sports in Tennessee and around the country.

The sport has exploded in Clinton in recent years as both Clinton and Anderson County high schools have several female wrestlers in their respective programs.

Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, some schools across the country had just a few girls competing in wrestling, and they had to wrestle boys.

In recent years, the sport has expanded, and several area high schools, including Clinton, Anderson County, Gibbs, Knoxville Halls, Farragut and Hardin Valley Academy, have had girls flourish in wrestling.

Farragut has had girls earn full-ride college scholarships. HVA has had two female state champions. The Gibbs Lady Eagles have starred on the grand stage. And Halls has a former Lady Devil as its girls head coach, as Megann Kiser wrestled at the school and in college before returning to the school to coach.

Clinton wrestling Coach Channing McDonald noted that the next step will be to add girls’ coaches at Clinton and ACHS.

“It’s gotten to the point that at Halls, the two programs are almost completely separated, and we need to have a girls’ coach,” McDonald said. “It’s hard to get the girls some matches when they have tournaments at different places.”

McDonald said that he and Anderson County Coach Matt Slone are working together to urge Anderson County Schools to hire head girls’ coaches for both Clinton and ACHS.

“Matt and I are going to go before the (school) board and make a proposal,” McDonald said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to do that at the next meeting.”

Clinton Assistant Coach Damien Leavell recently moved to East Tennessee from Kentucky. His son, Deameion, wrestles and plays football for the Dragons.

The elder Leavell works with both the Dragons and Lady Dragons on the mats. He was a state wrestling champion in Kentucky and relishes the opportunity to work with young wrestlers.

“I work with all of them,” he said. “They used to have to wrestle against the boys, and I had boys get their butts handed to them by girls. It’s great that they have their own sport, and a lot of them are getting scholarships.

“It’s great that they can compete and have their own state tournament, and it’s always great when you can use a sport to get an education.”

Some Lady Dragons were in action Friday at the Gibbs Holiday Duals in Corryton. Sophomores Kayla Crutcher, Maggie Lloyd and Alyssa Gonzoles all grappled in Northeast Knox County to end the 2023 calendar year.

All have medaled in tournaments this season.

Gonzalez, who competes in the 126-pound weight class, has participated in wrestling for five years. She’s also a volleyball player, and says that the sports are completely different.

“I play volleyball, too, and that’s a team sport,” Gonzalez said. “Wrestling is a great sport, and it’s great when you want to do something different.

“It helps you to have confidence.”

Gonzalez has seen the sport of girls wrestling grow. And she’s viewed it all first-hand.

“I absolutely remember wrestling against boys,” she said.

Crutcher, a 126-pounder, is a second-year wrestler for the Lady Dragons. She enjoys competing on the mats. But for her, it’s about more than competition.

“I like it because it helps you to build friendships and compete with and rely on one another,” she said. “It’s like a family.

“It’s good for girls to be able to wrestle. It gives you a chance to do whatever you want to do.”

Lloyd, who wrestles in the 107-pound division, is also a martial artist. She’s a first-year wrestler, who wanted to find a way to represent the Lady Dragons.

“I love it,” Lloyd said. “It’s a good outlet for your anger.

“I started in martial arts when I was in the fourth grade, and I wanted to get into something where I could represent my school,” she said. “I used to play softball.”

Girls high school wrestling has undoubtedly grown by leaps and bounds and will likely continue to enjoy popularity.

But McDonald said the work is not done for boys or girls wrestling.

“We need to grow wrestling, and the way to do that is by having in-school matches,” he said. “That will expose more kids to wrestling, both boys and girls.”