Murray, NEB- The 2023-24 season is approaching for the Conestoga Wrestling Team. They had a successful 2022-23 season, and sent a total of five wrestlers to state. Two of these five were girls. Last year, Conestoga had nine girls on the team. This is a pretty big thing considering that the 2021-22 season was when girls wrestling was officially sanctioned in Nebraska. According to The National Wrestling Coaches Association, since 1994, the number of girls who wrestle while in highschool has grown from a little over 800 to over 50,000!
The 2022-23 Girls Conestoga Wrestling team consisted of Alex P., Allee I., Hannah B., Maggie F., Morgan H., Kylee P., Kyler Z., Gabby L., and Emory T. Only four of these girls had ever wrestled before that season. Last year, Kylee P, who has wrestled for a long time beat Sophia S., from Raymond Central, in the state finals match at the CHI Health Center in Omaha. First year wrestler, Maggie F, placed third at state that very same weekend.
This year, the Conestoga girls wrestling coach is officially Rob Everett. Everett has been coaching for eight years now and has no intention of ever leaving. He states, “When Conestoga is done with me, I will be done coaching.” He was a high school medalist in folkstyle and freestyle as well as an Idaho state champ in greco.
There is also another new assistant girls coach, Mike Anderson. Anderson went to Cozad High School in central Nebraska, and was a three time state qualifier in addition to being a two time state medalist. Mike has been a coach for 14 years now and isn’t planning on being done anytime soon as well.
On Thursday, October 26, Conestoga had its official wrestling meeting for anybody interested. Five more girls signed up this year than there were on the team last year, a total of 14 girls.
