Columbus North wrestlers Meghana Penmathsa, left, and Savannah Fellows grapple during practice at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Monday, Dec. 5, 2022.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
For the overwhelming majority of wrestling’s time as an IHSAA sport, if girls wanted to compete, they had to compete against boys.
Five years ago, the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association started a state tournament series for girls, and Columbus East’s Emma Mensendiek finished fourth in her weight class in the inaugural state girls tourney in 2017.
With more and more girls taking to the mat each year since then, the IHSAA decided last year to make girls wrestling an “Emerging Sport,” along with boys volleyball, in 2022-23. If enough schools field teams in the coming years, they could get bumped up to full IHSAA-sanctioned status.
Although East does not have any girls competing this year, Columbus North has had eight-to-10 girls for most of this season.
“We had quite a few come out and had 10 stick around,” North boys wrestling coach Matt Joyce said. “They seem to be really enjoying it. I think that’s a big deal for us as a program and just for the sport of wrestling in general.”
Joyce found out about this time last year that girls wrestling was going to be an Emerging Sport, so they began preparing to field a team.
“We made an effort early on to really start recruiting girls and putting it as a girls-only team,” Joyce said. “I think that was a big difference in bringing girls out to the wrestling team, knowing that they are wrestling other girls vs. having to wrestle boys. Then obviously, having a female wrestling coach in coach (Lindsey) Prozanski, that’s another huge thing.”
Prozanski, a former wrestler at Milan High School and Campbellsville (Kentucky) University, taught and coached wrestling at a middle school in Bardstown, Kentucky, the past few years. She took a teaching job at Northside Middle School this fall, and Northside athletics director Cindy McCoy reached out to her about becoming involved with the North girls program.
“Wrestling is such a big part of my life, and I love to share that with other people just because it had such a huge impact on my life,” Prozanski said. “I wasn’t sure who was here or what was available at Columbus or Northside, but I’m really glad I was able to jump in. It’s always great to be a part of something and help the girls.”
The Bull Dogs were led in their first tournament this season by fourth-place finishes from Hannah Michel, Kaitlyn Krebs and Mia Hernandez-Melendres.
For Michel, a junior, this is her first year wrestling.
“I think I’ve done well for this being my first year,” Michel said. “I fell in love with wrestling as soon as I got to start. It challenges me in so many ways, and it gives me a sense of belonging because I can always can improve, and I know that everyone can always improve. So I don’t feel behind. I don’t feel like I’m lacking. I just feel like it’s something that everyone can meet their personal best. I’ve won some matches; I’ve lost some matches, but I’m just excited to see how I’m going to improve and how the rest of the team is, too.”
Michel was influential in getting another first-time wrestler involved in junior Savannah Fellows.
“Hannah came up to me in AP U.S. History class, and said, ‘Do you know anybody who would be interested in wrestling?’ and I just thought it sounded interesting,” Fellows said. “I broke my arm a few weeks ago, but I did pretty good for what my arm could do at the moment.”
Hernandez-Melendres, a freshman, returned to the sport after previously wrestling in elementary school.
“I just thought that after leaving wrestling in sixth grade, I really wanted to attempt it again and see how motivated I would be,” Hernandez-Melendres said. “I’m really proud of myself, and I’m really proud of all the girls I’ve been wrestling with. They’ve done a really good job.”
Prozanski is hoping her wrestlers can grow their skills as they continue to learn the sport.
“I feel very lucky, and I tell them that all the time,” Prozanski said. “They are very coachable, they always bring a good attitude and they’re always willing to jump in and try something new. I really think that they’ve done as best they can with the tools that I’ve provided them. There’s absolutely lots of room for growth, and I think they’ve definitely continued to improve from our first competition, and I’m interested to see how we end up.”
