The Oak Harbor High School girls wrestling team will make its debut this season.

In the past, girls turning out for wrestling were incorporated into the boys program; now they will form a separate team.

“We are a pioneer program, so in many ways we are paving the way for future girl wrestling teams at OHHS,” coach Brian Farmer said.

While the team is new, several members aren’t.

Seven wrestlers lettered last year while competing along with the boys: senior Autumn Coker; juniors Grace Chargualaf, Diandra Dominguez, Taylor Cress and Ella Erikson; and sophomores Elizabeth Clairmont and Adelina Lopez.

Clairmont was fourth and Coker eighth in last year’s sub-regional tournament.

The strength of the team, Farmer said, is this veteran group.

“Our returning girls are helping our first-year girls daily by showing technique and encouraging them,” he said.

It is too early to tell which newcomers will have the greatest impact, Farmer said.

“The other girls turning out for wrestling are first timers, so we will have to see how they finish the season,” he said.

The goals for the season, according to Farmer, “are for our team to learn to love the sport of wrestling and each other, grow in character and technique, and help lead each other to finish well.”

Oak Harbor will face its first competition at the Sedro-Woolley Jamboree at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 1.

The Wildcats’ lone home meet is 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12.