Comanche hosts historical girls-only wrestling match

Comanche girl wrestlers keep making school history. The latest milestone came on Dec. 10 when they hosted Altus in a girls-only match, the first in school history.

The Lady Indians and the Lady Bulldogs went down to the wire with the match being decided in the final bout. The Lady Bulldogs would win the finale and the match.

“It was an amazing night with just the girls getting to do something never done before,” said Casy Rowell, head wrestling coach. “It’s kind of unique and special for them. I just wanted to, hopefully, inspire some girls in the stands or maybe some people in the stands to see how much the sport’s grown and how cool it is.”

The plan worked. Rowell said he had girls approach him afterward and express interest in wrestling.

“We used to just have the girls kind of filter in on our boys’ nights,” Rowell said. “So when you are a young girl sitting in the stands and you see all the boys’ wrestling with some girls mixed in, it’s just not the same as all girls. It’s just a different atmosphere when it is all girls.”

The action on the mat was a bonus.

“It was awesome how the dual went,” Rowell said. “We matched it up where the dual came down to that last match and it was 54-54 going into it. It is rare for that to happen, which made it exciting for the fans, the coaches and the girls. I think some people didn’t know what to expect, so it was just really cool to see all that come together.”

It was a teaching moment for the team.

“We’ve never had a situation like that before, where we are competing as a dual team,” Rowell said. “It’s always been get a couple of matches in, but no real team thing. This was a team effort. You explain to the girls, ‘Hey, if you don’t get pinned and you don’t get pinned, then now we win.’”

One of the highlights for the Lady Indians was Kylee Powers coming from down 11-0 in the final period to win by pin.

“That’s an amazing part of the sport,” Rowell said. “I’ve seen it in other sports like football when you’re down 40 points at the half and you know it’s kind of done and it’s going to be tough. But, in wrestling, you are never out of it until the very end, even in a situation like that with her that’s a lesson. Just keep wrestling. Don’t get upset. Just keep wrestling because you still have a chance.”

At the Wrestling Like a Girl Tournament in Elgin over the weekend, Comanche had one placer in Brook West finishing third.

“Some of our girls got whooped on and it’s kind of tough,” Rowell said. “I wanted to see a little better results on that, but it’s just a good lesson for them. Not only do you have to come to practice to put in the work, but you have to go above and beyond if you want to win in wrestling. We’ve got a team, but now how are we going to be competitive? If you want to be more competitive, you need to do more lifting on the side and running on your own, eating right and being disciplined with your lifestyle. If you want to go places at these events, you need to dedicate yourself. I was talking to coach (Dilynn) Hare and she was telling me how physically built those girls were. It just goes to show they’re putting in the work too. We’re not the only ones.”