The girls varsity wrestling team made history when they placed first at the district meet held in Birdville. Their success only continued after they claimed Argyle’s first district championship, and furthered their winning streak with state qualifying wins at the region tournament. Now after multiple athletes have qualified for state, they hope to find the same success competing this upcoming Friday in Houston, TX.
“This is the first time I have ever qualified for state,” varsity senior Emilia Hernandez said. “And also the first time the girls wrestling team has ever placed at regionals. This is a huge accomplishment for something that started only three years ago.”
Since the start of the girls program three years ago, the team has grown substantially from six team members to now nineteen, despite facing many challenges, they have found history-making success this season.
“The challenges at the beginning were to spread the word and get the girls interested,” head coach Bobby Morse said. “A lot of the girls here at Argyle had not wrestled at all before, so this was their first experience in wrestling.”
After going from a brand new program start to winning district and placing at region, the girls team is now working harder than ever to try and take these wins all the way to state.
“One of the things we are doing extra is making sure that everyone is healthy and in treatment,” Morse said. “So actually our practices are shorter right now than they have been in the past so that they have the time to get the extra medical treatment and rest that they need so we can be prepared on Friday.”
As they gear up for state, many of the seniors look back on their time wrestling and are ready to share the impact it has had on their lives. Both Hernandez and senior Larissa Puckett have been part of the team since its inception their sophomore year.
“Wrestling has honestly just given me so much more confidence,” Puckett said. “It’s helped me to not be afraid of hard work and be more driven in everything that I do, because it’s helped me to realize that with hard work you can accomplish a lot of things and it’s not just that you have to be born with a certain skill, if you work hard enough you can do this.”
It isn’t just Larissa who feels that wrestling has had a substantial impact on her life, Hernandez also says wrestling has her the ability to face challenges and work hard.
“Every little thing you do counts,” Emelia Hernandez, said “Every practice, every tournament, every win, every loss really means something. There will be times when you feel like you should just quit, like it’s not worth it, but really stick with it. It is really worth it in the long run.”
Update Feb. 20, 2024
This year, 45 Boys and 19 Girls had an opportunity to wrestle for Argyle this season. In district competition, the boys JV 4th place, boys varsity 3rd place, and girls varsity earned the championship. Twenty wrestlers qualified for the regional tournament and girls finished 3rd at Regional Tournament. Seven wrestlers qualified for the state tournament, and two finished in the top 8 at state.
“What a great year,” head coach Bobby Morse said. “I am so proud of all the wrestlers for their effort, dedication, and accomplishments.”
Individual state qualifiers and achievements included:
