BEATRICE, Neb. - From nearly tripling since it’s establishment in 2022, to being a top ranked team in Class A, Beatrice’s girls wrestling program is continuing to find success and breaking barriers in the ranks girls high school sports.

“So much is girls being leaders themselves… I have some friends, they have some girls, and their girls are just little, and their girls are just in awe.”

Beatrice began with three girls when the program first broke on to the scene…. Now they have a full squad with 17 participants and are ranked fourth in Class A. Head Coach Corey Wells says it’s taken word of mouth and some promotion by himself and his wrestlers to give it a try.

“We had a novice tournament, where any kids, boys or girls, brand new to the sport of wrestling, haven’t wrestled more than a year, we had them out, got them matches,” Wells said. “We had a group of 15-20 young girls out wrestling.”

A state finalist in 2024, Beatrice senior Morgan Maschmann has seen the sport grow since her freshman year.

“I’ve gotten to witness it since the sport was still really small, now it’s growing,” Maschmann said. “I’ve been to a lot of national tournaments and seen it get bigger there and how many other states and camps and how many girls go to those as well, it’s really cool.”

Junior Jorja Boller began her wrestling endeavors in seventh grade. She encourages those thinking about giving it a shot to do so, as she’s made some of her best friends through wrestling.

“Girls, when you go to tournaments, we’re really friendly,” Boller said. “You can go out and pin someone in five seconds an then you’re friends again. I’ve made some of my best friends through wrestling.”