Big numbers for Clyde girls wrestling this season

Editor's note: This is the first story in a series highlighting the rise of girls wrestling and bowling in the area. CLYDE - "Champions aren't born, they're built." A simple yet powerful message delivered in a letter from Coach Adam Greenslade to the board of education of Clyde-Greensprings Local School District in January 2022. Two years later, the ability for the Lady Fliers to have their own varsity wrestling program became a reality. The question remained, what inspired Greenslade to advocate and fight for a varsity program at Clyde High School? That required going back to a decision that was made on January 13th, 2022. In 2022, the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA), saw an explosion of interest from female student-athletes that wanted to compete in their own division of wrestling. In Ohio there were 195 girl wrestlers in 2015-2016. That number jumped to 449 in 2019-2020 and caught the eye of the OHSAA, as it was within a four-year span. The national average of girl wrestlers had gone from 6,000 in 2010 to 28,000 in 2019-2020, according to data that was collected from the National Wrestling Coaches Association and by the state high school associations that are apart of the USA Wrestling Girls High School Development Committee. Both of those combined caused the OHSAA Board of Directors to unanimously approve girls wrestling as a sanctioned sport on Jan.13th, 2022. While Clyde went the way of a club sport after the decision came down, other area schools decided to take the plunge and start programs of their own. Most notably was Port Clinton and Fremont Ross, which Greenslade was excited to watch the growth of those programs that year. Currently, there are four other schools in the Sandusky Bay Conference that have girls wrestling, which are Columbian, Lakota, Sandusky and Calvert. In the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, there is Seneca East and Carey, while in the Northern Buckeye Conference, there is Fostoria. The road to becoming a varsity sport at Clyde The path was not as easy as one had hoped. Coach Greenslade wrote a letter to then-Superintendent Dennis Haft, and the current board members to petition for girls wrestling to become an official varsity sport after the OHSAA decision. Clyde had other plans, as it has procedures that a new sport must follow. "The process at Clyde has been that a sport must be a club for three years," Clyde's Athletic Director Ryan Greenslade said. "In that time, they can participate and compete against other schools, in tournaments, and OHSAA-sanctioned tournaments." The board of education approved Coach Greenslade's request for girl's wrestling to become a varsity sport in three years time in 2022. It only remained a club sport for two years, which was the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school year. "Due to the increasing number of girls and the magnitude of the growth, it was decided to take the next step faster," Ryan Greenslade explained. "We decided to hire additional coaches to accommodate the girl's wrestling team instead of trying to share the same coaches as the boys' team. Since we have a full girl's schedule this year and many of the tournaments fall on the same days, we couldn't share the same coaches and give both programs the attention they deserve." Thus how Coach Adam Greenslade and his co-head coach Dave Stanley got their positions. Flier Nation support If anyone had any doubt about the support of the girl's wrestling program from the community, they would be wrong. New clocks and wrestling mats were purchased this year by the athletic department and the wrestling boosters. The wrestling boosters have also purchased any other equipment that the girls have needed including making sure that the second wrestling room is being used for the girls and not co-ed. "We have a strong wrestling community and the support for the girl's program has been outstanding," Ryan Greenslade said. "We've had several individuals step up to coach or volunteer to help in any way possible." Coach Greenslade's inspiration for a varsity program came from watching his daughter Meredith "Mimi" Greenslade, who is now a freshman this year on the inaugural varsity team. She came up through the biddy wrestling program and even wrestled against the boys. She started at the age of seven years old, watching her older brother's participate in Clyde wrestling. Her personal desire to succeed and compete, along with courage and confidence that she showed, inspired Greenslade to push forward to make it a reality at Clyde. In her middle school years, Meredith had a successful run. According to coach Greenslade, she was a Sandusky Bay Conference finalist. At first, she finished as a conference-runner up, and then third as an eighth grader. Those finishes were feats never accomplished by female wrestlers in the SBC. In the first year as a club sport, in 2022-2023, Avery Gaskalla was able to compete in girls tournaments, though limited, and still competed at boys events. She was joined by sophomores Audrey Miracle, Aurelia Moya, and Mia Bocardo, all of whom were first-year wrestlers at that time. Last year, the Lady Fliers had many accomplishments, and while the team comprised only of four female wrestlers by the end of the season, they proved to be a force to be reckoned with. For the first time in school history, the girls were able to split from the boys team, and that came with more opportunities and more tournaments.The four member team was made up of Gaskalla, Miracle, Olivia Mills, and Curstin Hackenburg. The trailblazers qualified for the OHSAA Regional Tournament, with Miracle qualifying for the OHSAA state tournament, and Gaskalla as an alternate. The team also placed in the top 10 in five out of seven regular season tournaments, and because of the size of the team, they were able to get a significant number of bonus points against teams that were bigger than them. Coach Greenslade attributes that success and exposure to what has made the explosion and growth happen for this year for the Lady Fliers. "Over the past several years the interest level has increased greater than any sport at CHS. Since last year, they've had more girls attending open mats and committing to off-season workouts." Ryan Greenslade said. Nationally, there are 150 colleges that have female wrestling. In Ohio, there are numerous colleges that have female wrestling as well, including local colleges such as Tiffin University and Heidelberg University, and further up north towards Cleveland area is Baldwin-Wallace University and John Carroll University, and closer to the capital of Columbus is Otterbein College. "We now have 16 girls on the team for the current season and they will be wrestling a full schedule for the first time in our programs brief history, which means they will be competing in the maximum number of tournaments allowed by the OHSAA." coach Greenslade said. This year's lineup has three seniors. Borcado, who will be in the 115/120 weight class, and has wrestled for the last two years. Joining her is Miracle, the first female state qualifier for Clyde and will be in the 110 weight class. Miracle was ranked eighth in the AWW Preseason Poll, and ranked 12th in the Dubstat Preseason Poll. Last senior is Moya, and although she didn't wrestle last season, the call of the mat was too strong to ignore. She is in the 190/235 weight class, and will have to draw on her experiences she had as a sophomore to help her be successful this season. The juniors for this season include seasoned veteran Gaskella, who is ranked 12th in the AWW Preseason Poll, and ranked 11th in the Dubstat Preseason Poll, and is looking to compete in the 100 weight class. Returning as well is second year wrestler Mills, who will be in the 145/150. Two brand new juniors to wrestling include Elle Koffron (135), and Addison Townsley (120), who played soccer and track. Since she is a multi-sport athlete, coach Greenslade is looking for her to win a lot of matches this season. Coming into this season as well is first year sophomore Maria Hill (100) and former Woodmore wrestler Megan Meggitt (130). Meggitt has big shoes to fill as she is the sister of two time state-runner up for Clyde Lance Overmyer. Due to OHSAA regulations, she can only compete for 50% of the season due to the transfer, but coach Greenslade expects that she will be a force to be reckoned with. Closing out the roster this season are 6 freshmen. Delaney Cortes (145), Lilianna Hatfield (170), and Addy Siedenburg (155) are all brand new to the sport. While Casey Fisher (125) is in her first year of wrestling, she is not new to the sport. Having watched her brother CJ Fisher, who is a multiple time state qualifier and placer for the Fliers, coach Greenslade is looking for her to have a great rookie season. Joining the team this year as well is former Bellevue Middle School wrestler Caroline Purdham (190/235). As for Meredith Greenslade (115/120), her experience on the mat, along with being ranked 7th in the AWW Preseason Poll and having the experience of being on the Ohio National Team this past summer season, is sure to help the Lady Fliers wrestling program be a success this season. Despite losing Hackenburg to graduation, the program grew from 4 to 16 in one year. For coach Greenslade though, it means more to him as well as coach Stanley. Both coaches have son's on the varsity boy's team, but they have been coaching for a long time between their children's youth wrestling programs. "We have talked to our current wrestlers about being good ambassadors and encouraging participation amongst their peers," coach Greenslade said. "Dave and I both started working with the girls after initially becoming involved in coaching with our sons for many years. We are both fully committed to growing the girl's team and have been since working with Avery, Mimi, and other area girls in our youth programs over the past several years." The athletic director has no doubts that the program will be around for a long time for Flier Athletics. "They will continue to get more girls out for wrestling now that they know they don't have to wrestle against the boys. This was an obstacle for some girls and parents." Greenslade said.