The Scotts Valley Wrestling Academy’s preseason folkstyle team has experienced a surprisingly high turnout with 14 girls on the club thus far.
The preseason folkstyle season runs from September through late October at Scotts Valley High School, said Coach Mike Parrish. The girls practice Monday through Friday from 5 to 7 p.m.
“We have never had more than six girls on the team before in the history of Scotts Valley,” Parrish said. “Two years ago, we won the Central Coast Sections title with six girls.”
A new experiment has proven successful after a number of girls have joined the preseason team, said Parrish.
Hopefully, he said, they will stay on to increase the numbers on the team during the regular season, which runs from early November through February.
Freddy Cortez, coach and president of the Scotts Valley Wrestling Academy, said that the outlook for the new team is looking very promising.
“We are trying to educate the community and everyone around to promote the sport of wrestling,” Cortez said.
Having a preseason girls’ team is a good way to get them ready to join the coed team during the regular school season and will help the girls gain confidence in their skills before joining in with the boys, Parrish said.
“Only in the preseason are we trying this,” he said. “In order to build a bigger team, we had to get girls who hadn’t wrestled before.”
Last Sunday, Sept. 26, was the Tsunami Open at Santa Cruz High School. This was the first tournament for the all-girls preseason folkstyle team. The girls were wrestling girls and boys and almost everyone placed and received a medal, Parrish said.
“Our goal is to get every girl 20 matches before the season starts,” Parrish said.
With greater numbers on the team, the coaches are optimistic that the girls’ wrestling team will have a chance at winning the state title at the California Interscholastic Federation’s state championship this year, which is set to take place next year on Feb. 27and 28, Parrish said.
Parrish’s daughter, Dominique “Domino” Parrish, who is a senior at SVHS this year, was the only girl that qualified for the state championship in 2013.
“I won state champion last year, twice, both in folkstyle,” she said. “I won nationals for folkstyle, I won nationals for freestyle, and I am Triple Crown winner.”
Falcons wrestling coach Ken Kannegaard said that more wins are almost guaranteed with more girls on the team.
“This year, we can fill 12 of the 14 (weight classes),” he said. “If we could go to a tournament with 12 girls, and each of those girls place in the top four, we are going to win a ton of tournaments.”
More girls on the team will increase the chances of winning a state title and makes for a more productive and coherent team dynamic, Domino said.
“Last year, I went to the state tournament by myself and it wasn’t fun,” she said. “I just really wished I had a team, and it’s more likely with a bigger team to have girls go with me.”
Senior Julia Branagan, is a new member of the Scotts Valley Wrestling Academy this year. She said she is new to sports and is not used to the exercise, but enjoys wrestling because of the health benefits.
“I have learned a lot of different moves, and it has actually given me more confidence doing the sport,” she said. “It feels good inside to be able to do these moves.”
The Scotts Valley Wrestling Academy has six girls with previous wrestling experience and eight new club members. The team is expecting more new members during the regular school season – once the Fall sports come to an end, Cortez said.
“We want to have that identity,” he said. “When people hear Scotts Valley, we want them to associate the area with wrestling … we are heading in that direction and it’s going to be a great ride from here on out.”
