Oak Harbor forms first girls wrestling team

By Jim Waller • November 16, 2018 1:30 am

With more and more girls turning out for wrestling each year, high schools are switching from co-ed teams to separate squads for boys and girls. Oak Harbor is joining the trend this season.

“It (girls wrestling) is the fastest growing sport in the nation,” Oak Harbor girls coach Brian Farmer said.

Last year Oak Harbor’s co-ed team included eight girls; this year 19 are participating.

Some area schools have had a separate girls team for several years and boast rosters of more than 30.

With the increase of interest in Oak Harbor, a girls team was the logical next step.

Oak Harbor’s head wrestling coach Larry Falcon approached athletic director Jerrod Fleury last year about adding a girls team.

“Many schools in Wesco were separating boys and girls teams,” Fleury said. “I met with a few girls and they expressed concerns they had with practices being combined.

“In the end I wanted to provide them with the same benefits that the boys had. They will have their own head coach, own practice times and own schedule. (I) just felt like it was the right thing to do for our kids.”

The jump in numbers in Oak Harbor this year is a direct result of the girls no longer having to share the mat with the boys, according to wrestler Diandra Dominguez.

“More girls are finally turning out because they don’t have to compete with the boys,” she said. “It makes for a more close-knit team. We also get our own coach and more one-on-one training.”

Wrestler Ella Erickson noted that girls often “don’t feel confident when wrestling boys.”

Farmer added, “Most girls on the team want only to wrestle girls, which makes a lot of sense.

“A girls-only team helps develop a team cohesiveness, unity and purpose.”

Farmer started coaching wrestling when he came to Oak Harbor in 1989. He was a high school assistant and middle school coach before becoming the Wildcats’ head coach in 1998.

He stepped down after the 2005 season, then returned as an assistant in 2011.

“Three years ago I was asked by one of the coaches to help coach some of our girls at the sub-regional wrestling tournament,” Farmer said. “I absolutely loved coaching the girls that day.”

That positive experience led him to apply to be the girls head coach.

“It is a great feeling being part of history at Oak Harbor High School,” Farmer said. “I tell this to our girls often. Since they are pioneers, it is not an easy task, but together they can accomplish (their goals).”

A week into practice, the wrestlers are happy with the change.

“We get to go at our own pace,” Adelina Lopez said. “We weren’t included in some of the things in the past; this feels like something of our own.”

Taylor Cress added that they are now “learning different things,” including “girl-specific moves.”