The stale aroma of gym socks singes your nostrils upon entering the Free State High wrestling room.

Twenty-three boys, most with chiseled chests and claw-like arms, scrap and tussle and twist each other like pretzels as they roll across the floor. They grab ears, legs, shoulders, feet — anything to gain an edge and hopefully pin their opponent.

Mat burns and bruises are accentuated by slimy sweat that shimmers on their faces and arms after two hours of practice. Everything about it says, “Girls Keep Out.”

But there’s Sara Hilliard, right in the middle of it, unfazed by her surroundings that hardly fit the “girlie” stereotype.

The same scene can be found across town at Lawrence High, where South Junior High freshman Emma Mercer recently was called up to the LHS varsity squad. Two more girls wrestle at Southwest Junior High and another at Central. An additional 14 are members of the Lawrence Junior Wrestling Club.

Lawrence is Kansas’ leader in producing female wrestlers, but the trend extends nationwide. Thousands of women are donning singlets, and the movement is sparking new opportunities to earn college scholarships and the chance to compete in the Olympics.

Groundbreaking movement

Rick Bowden of the Kansas State High School Activities Assn. considers Cheryl Meyer the pioneer for Kansas wrestling. In 1993, Meyer posted a 12-11 record for Sabetha High before moving on to international competition.

“Since then we’ve had about 50 to 70 who start out every year,” Bowden said. “Maybe half of those will drop out and not participate, but the number of girls that come out and stay out is increasing.”

Sara Hilliard, front, is the lone female wrestler on the Free State High wrestling team, but the Firebirds think of her as just another teammate.

Santa Fe Trail’s Brooke Bogren became the first Kansas girl to qualify for the high school state tournament in 1999 and 2000. Cherri Volpert of Cherryvale followed in 2001. So did Marion’s Chelsea Arnhold in 2002 and 2003.

Similar aspirations now are found in wrestling rooms in Lawrence. The city’s five youth clubs are seeing an influx of girls. Hilliard uses the high school season to train for national competition with the United States Girls Wrestling Assn., where she boasts a No. 7 national ranking in her weight class. Mercer is following a similar path.

“It makes me feel really good to know that I’m not the only one,” Hilliard said. “I like seeing how it’s growing a lot. The first tournament I went to this year, there were five girls besides me at the tournament, and it was a seven or eight-team tournament. It was really cool to meet with the other girls and compare wrestling stories.”

Problems can arise

The club scene has been relatively quick to embrace female wrestlers, primarily because it is has established divisions allowing girls to compete head-to-head. The transition isn’t always so smooth at the high-school level, however.

The KSHSAA does not have rules forcing girls to wrestle girls, making grappling males fair game. Therefore, problems often arise. Some schools have policies against allowing their males to wrestle females. Other times, the boy has a personal objection.

Free State High wrestler Sara Hilliard listens to instructions with her teammates during practice. The drills took place Thursday at the FSHS wrestling room.

“I’ve had guys forfeit before because they don’t want to wrestle me,” Hilliard said. “The first time it happened I was kind of angry about it because I didn’t understand why they didn’t want to.”

Now she understands.

“I started talking to the other guys on my team and I realized that this guy had just seen me beat another of his teammates and he didn’t want to take a chance,” Hilliard said. “I can understand that for guys it would be a huge blow to the ego because I get pretty angry when I lose to girls.”

Gender-related problems usually are limited to the competition scene. Hilliard and Mercer have a comfort zone at practice. Teammates and coaches consider them “just one of the guys,” having proved they can hold their own with their male counterparts.

“The guys up here will tell you, pound for pound Emma’s one of the hardest workers up here,” LHS coach Mark Dulgarian said.

Added Free State coach Darrell Andrew: “We don’t view Sara as being a girl wrestler. We view her as being one of our teammates.”

The support system for female wrestlers often extends into the home. Hilliard said her parents were skeptical of her wrestling at first, but since have backed her 100 percent.

Other parents, such as former Lawrence High wrestler David Housworth, say wrestling provides a positive setting for girls to make friends, exercise and improve their safety. Housworth has three daughters and a son who wrestle for the Lawrence Junior Wrestling Club.

“Wrestling’s never thought of as a self-defense, but it really is something that can help you out if you get into trouble,” Housworth said. “A dad’s always more concerned about his girls, so having them know a couple of ways where they can escape gives me some peace of mind. Plus, it’s something where they can go work out and have fun. It’s a really good thing.”

The Future

After a decade of being limited to local gymnasiums and a handful of national and international competitions, women’s wrestling will take center stage in August in Athens, Greece, when it debuts as an Olympic sport.

The added exposure is expected to bring a mixture of heavy scrutiny and keen interest. Proponents of women’s wrestling hope the Olympics provide the springboard the sport needs to boost national acceptance and to inspire additional opportunities for it to grow.

Seven United States colleges already have women’s wrestling programs and offer scholarships. Minnesota-Morris is dropping its program after this season, however, joining about 400 men’s collegiate wrestling programs on the defunct list. Other schools, including Nebraska, have discussed adding programs in the future. Additionally, 17 colleges in Canada offer women’s wrestling.

After a wrestling match with Shawnee Mission Northwest, Free State wrestler Sara Hilliard chats with friends, from right, FSHS junior Brittany Rivera, senior Brittany Saylo and senior Natalie Puentes. The girls were on hand for Wednesday's match at FSHS.

“There are actually more scholarship opportunities out there for young ladies in the world of wrestling than there are for young men,” Lawrence Junior Wrestling Club coach Brian Hayes said. “There are lots of opportunities for women out there, and when they’re getting started at this young of an age, talk about an edge.”

Olympics next?

Hilliard said she hopes women’s wrestling with be a big hit at the Olympics and inspire more colleges to add programs so more local girls will have a chance to continue wrestling at the next level.

For now, Hilliard has her sights set on wrestling at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo., one of the seven schools with a female mat program.

“I’d love to wrestle in the Olympics,” Hilliard said. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get that far, but if I can that would be really, really rewarding. Right now I just want to sign with a college. When, I can start wrestling girls 100 percent of the time and not have to switch back and forth so much, that’s going to help me a lot.”