In 2022, girls wrestling officially became a sanctioned sport in Iowa. Since then, PV’s Girls Wrestling has come a long way.
The 1st IGHSAU-sanctioned season took place during the 2022-23 school year. “Our team officially started in 2023, which was the first sanctioned year for girls wrestling as a high school sport in Iowa,” stated junior wrestler Abby Meyrer. Years before, girls participated in club programs and wrestled with boys.
The team has experienced exponential growth since then with more girls joining each year. Meyrer conveyed, “My freshman year we only had 11 girls on our whole team, and it’s 14 weights to fill a full varsity lineup.” During her sophomore year, the team had 13 girls. “But we were doubled up at some weights and were still unable to fill a varsity roster with some open weights,” stated Meyrer.
The PV Girls Wrestling team has 16 girls on it this year. “Which, by the numbers, is the biggest team we’ve had in school history, and we keep getting more and more girls a part of the team every week that passes, and we are finally able to fill a full varsity lineup with every weight filled,” conveyed Meyrer.
The growth in the team numbers has brought the girls closer and changed their attitudes in a positive way. “We’re all always so positive and willing to work hard and come into the room every day and get better, and we all have high goals set for ourselves and we push each other daily to help reach those goals. Which is something we didn’t have much of the past couple of years.” Meyrer conveyed.
Everyone on the team collaborates seamlessly and has a great time together. Reese Winslow is a senior at PV; this is her second year wrestling, and she conveyed, “I really love working with my teammates, and we have a lot of fun at tournaments.”
In a short amount of time, the wrestling team has accomplished a lot. Meyrer has been wrestling for about 11 years; her freshman year, she ended up winning state. “That was a pretty surreal moment that I won’t forget,” stated Meyrer. Her sophomore year she made it to state and ended up getting 4th place. “I ended up taking 4th and losing to the same girl twice while battling through an injury that would end up sitting me out for 7 months after surgery and rehab, but I wrestled the girl better the 2nd time I wrestled her. I got pinned in the quarters and then lost in overtime in my third place match,” stated Meyrer.
She is using this experience as a motivator. “This tournament has definitely stuck in my head through time because it was not how I wanted to do it, and I would get in my head about it. But it has given me a lot of motivation this season and how I’ve been wrestling,” stated Meyrer.
Over a short period of time, PV Girls Wrestling has grown so much. They not only grew in number but also as a team.
