There was a time when the wrestling program at The Webb Schools stood on the edge of disappearance.
“At the time, there were only eight wrestlers, and they were going to close the program,” said Eric Hansen, Academic Learning Specialist and former wrestling coach. “But then it grew, and it grew, and it grew.”
Last year, the team had over 42 wrestlers. The transformation of Webb’s wrestling team is not only a story of athletic success for the long-standing boys’ team, but also for the newly established girls’ team in 2023.
In a report by the National Federation of High Schools in 2025, girls’ high school wrestling was placed second in its participation gains with a 15 percent increase. In the last year, over 1,000 schools have added girls’ wrestling programs.
In January 2025, the NCAA made history by adding women’s wrestling as an official championship sport, a life changing decision for female athletes who have been fighting for recognition for years. All three divisions approved the move at the annual Convention in Nashville. This finished a long journey that began in 2020 when women’s wrestling was given a trial period to prove it had enough support from colleges. To reach full championship status, at least 40 schools needed to sponsor varsity programs, and that number was finally hit in the 2022–23 school year.
For many student athletes and supporters, the decision felt like a long overdue win for gender equality in sports, honoring the spirit of Title IX, the landmark law passed over 50 years ago that was meant to give women equal opportunities in athletics. The NCAA college championship could open many more doors for elite athletes to represent their country at an international level.
In short, women’s wrestling is in a historical period of growth at the high school, collegiate, and Olympic level; hesitation to invest in the sport now could mean missing a rare opportunity to expand participation and future possibilities.
Despite institutional progress, cultural hesitation around wrestling still exists, including here at Webb.
“I often hear girls say that they can’t wrestle or that they’re scared to join because they’re not fit enough, strong enough, fast enough,” said Rieanna Duncan, assistant wrestling coach. “As a coach, it’s our job to get you physically fit enough to withstand the 6 minutes [of a match], it’s the wrestlers’ job to seize the moment.”
The truth is, no one walks onto the mat ready. Waiting until you feel strong enough, fast enough, or fit enough means waiting forever. Those fears are understandable, but they also reveal a broader problem. Girls are too often taught to wait until they feel ready and avoid conflict instead of growing through challenge, especially when it involves direct contact. This harmful mindset is the one that keeps talented students on the sidelines instead of learning on the mat as the challenge comes.
Coach Duncan’s observation points to a deeper cultural dynamic that head coach Anthony Flucker has noticed across the program.
“Because most of our students have come from high achieving, high value families, they have been pushed away from using their bodies in ways that are sacrificial and instead told to use their minds in challenging and expressive ways,” Coach Flucker said. “They see it, they like it, they love it, because it is human nature, but it’s not something they feel comfortable with or have experience with.”
In a research paper authored by Steven Riess, a professor at the Northeastern Illinois University, contact sports like wrestling, football, and boxing have often been more accessible in working-class communities because they require less expensive equipment and were promoted in certain blue-collar social spaces. Some of these associations have yet to fade, leading to a reluctance among some students and parents to give the sport a chance, even as the team continues to grow and prove itself on the mat.
It is human nature to not want to engage in a physical altercation. However, what many people misunderstand about wrestling is that its physicality is designed in a safe manner. It is one of the few sports where intense, full-contact competition happens within a tightly controlled set of rules designed to protect athletes.
“Wrestling teaches you how to be in your body,” Coach Hansen said. “[Over time] you create this muscle memory where your body automatically knows what to do in all these different physical situations, battling against somebody else’s body.”
That body awareness that develops protects wrestlers even long after they step off the mat. If anything, wrestling is a sport that protects athletes of any gender.
In addition to the stereotypes about class, female identifying athletes face a second, more personal barrier: the idea that girls do not belong in sports involving direct physical contact.
In a male dominated sport where girls’ singlets were not yet a thing a decade ago, Webb’s girls wrestling team stands as a representation of the fastest growing population of female wrestlers shattering the glass ceiling of gender stereotypes in athletics.
“You can’t shatter that ceiling from outside of the building,” Coach Duncan said. “My advice to a girl who’s intimidated to come in for the first time is that this world is your oyster.”
Coach Duncan encouraged girls who feel hesitant to remember that every room they walk into is one they belong in. Though nerves are natural, they shouldn’t be a barrier to stop one from pursuing a new experience. She reminded them that facing intimidating situations is nothing new and won’t stop after this moment either. The challenges of wrestling will push one to become more resilient, a trait that is important to possess even after graduation.
“Wrestling trains both the body and the mind,” said Alina Li (’25), former member of the Webb girls’ wrestling team. “I am less likely to give up when I face obstacles, whether during wrestling or in other parts of my life.”
The tough training brings the team together, and in that togetherness lies perhaps the most powerful message of all: the future of wrestling looks different than it once did, and the girls of Webb are the ones writing it.
