High schools in Maryland are heading into the winter sports season, and November 15 marked the first day of Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) winter sports tryouts. At Linganore High School (LHS), three female students, junior Reagan Leader, sophomore Ellie Lange and freshman Akasha Fernandez, tried out for the boys’ wrestling team.

Reagan Leader became the first female in LHS history to wrestle for the high school team in 2022; however, females on male sports teams are often faced with unfair disadvantages such as clothing issues and mental health struggles With the inclusion of its first female wrestler, Linganore gave Leader only one accommodation; she was allowed to weigh in first, if the other male wrestlers would let her go to the front of the line. To weigh in she was put in the position of stripping down to a bra and booty shorts in front of the rest of the team.

Despite this effort toward inclusion, Leader expressed that her biggest challenge in wrestling for the high school team became her mental health.

“Wrestling is an intense sport, especially as a girl wrestler,” Leader said. “It’s hard to know when to ask for help and for people to understand me.” 

Leader felt as if she was not allowed to talk about her feelings as much as she needed to or to get help, due to the fact she could be seen as weak and not mentally strong enough to be in a predominantly male sport. 

Howard Putterman, Linganore athletic director, shared the different struggles he has witnessed due to the intensity of the sport.

“One of the biggest challenges I see, in terms of wrestling, is that it is hard on both ends for both females and males,” Putterman said. “When you have a female wrestler wrestling a male wrestler, both experience anxiety about how the match will go. Females are concerned about the possible size difference, possible speed difference and possible strength difference. For the male, in that perspective, there is the social anxiety of [possibly]‘ losing to a girl.’” 

Wrestling the Standards talks about the mental and physical challenges that wrestlers face during and out of the winter wrestling season. They elaborate on the idea that women are just as capable as being as mentally and physically strong as men in the sport. 

Leader explained that the standard for all wrestlers is  high and requires both me

She believes these standards are especially high for females.

“As a girl wrestler, some people do not understand some of the other different struggles that we go through,” Leader stated.

Female wrestlers face challenges not only in high school settings but on travel teams at the collegiate level and in middle school competitions, as well. One of the bigger problems they report to face is the singlets they are required to wear for matches. They do not always fit properly due to the differences in female body proportions. 

Fernandez discussed the issues with women’s singlets and their lack of coverage. 

“Women are often wearing t-shirts underneath or on top of their singlets for fuller coverage,” Fernandez said. This is seen on the wrestling website Takedown  that sells singlets, yet does not provide a women’s singlet cut. Many high schools, such as Linganore, only provide male singlets to their female athletes. 

Some female wrestlers have spoken out on the design of singlets, which have a low-cut front  and are sleeveless, which is not cut for female bodies. 

Putterman explained that two years ago was the first time in the position of athletic director that he had seen a female wrestler at the high school level. Putterman stated his support for female wrestlers on the team.  

“If we have females on the team, and we need to buy a specific type of singlet due to it being sized differently, I am more than happy to put that into the wrestling budget to make everyone feel comfortable and included,” Putterman said.

Two time all-american for MoVal, Leigh Jaynes spoke out on the issue of singlets for women, after witnessing another female wrestler’s upper extremity being exposed due to sizing issues. Unfortunately for this athlete, she became exposed during a wrestling match. She was unable to fix this problem, knowing that if she went to fix her arm strap it would cause her to get pinned and lose her match.

A wardrobe mishap is not the only issue top-of-mind for female wrestlers. In schools without designated female teams in which female athletes find themselves wrestling against male athletes, there is a concern over physical differences.

Leader reported that she purchased her own female wrestling uniform with her own money to be more comfortable and covered when performing as an athlete. 

Females in the sport are starting to speak out on their experiences on wrestling teams. Olympian Adeline Gray speaks out on her experiences on trying to make the sport more accessible to young girls and women who want to engage in the sport. She believes it is a place for young women to find their voice, feel confident in who they are and what they look like along with the fact that you can be whoever you want to be.   

One of the reasons female athletes like Leader and Fernandez have not received much attention is perhaps due to the novelty of their situation. 

There is debate about whether males and females should even be allowed to fight each other due to differences in muscle levels and the biology of the human body. Men and women’s bodies are very different from one another. 

Putterman discussed the idea of having two separate teams,  a female team and a male team to address some of these concerns. 

“I see the advantages as well as disadvantages on both sides,” Putterman said. “At this point, I land on whatever gives females the opportunity to be in a new sport, or an old sport or a sport that they love. If that means they have to wrestle men due to the smaller interest [by] females in the sport, then I’m all for coed wrestling. If we get enough females that we could hold an all-female team, despite all the logistical problems it will cause me as the athletic director, I’m all for that.” Putterman states.

Title IX makes it possible for men and women to have equal rights when it comes to sports. It gives both genders the opportunity to play on sports teams. Elaborate more specifically on what Title IX means for female wrestlers. 

Throughout the years, the interest in women’s wrestling has increased. Today there are 146 wrestling programs at the collegiate level, along with 77 clubs.