photo by: David Rodish/Journal-World

Free State senior Daijah Preston warms up during a girls wrestling practice at Ground Theory gym in Lawrence.

On the Ground Theory Jiu Jitsu floor in Lawrence, a group of girls wearing black sweatpants perform dynamic warmups. Some of their sweatpants are stitched with green and silver, while others are red and black.

At this practice, there is no divide between Lawrence High School and Free State High School except in the clothes. The girls wrestling teams practice together. They teach one another. And this year, the group is bigger than ever.

“Two years ago, when I took the job at Lawrence High, we had seven or eight girls at Lawrence High and six girls at Free State,” coach Carl Springer said. “Last year, we had 10 (at LHS). This year, we have 20 at Lawrence and 11 at Free State.”

Not only is the roster larger, there’s more experience there, too. Two years ago, out of the 14 girls Springer coached, only two had wrestled before. Last year, about half of the 20 girls had wrestled before. This year, it’s over 20. Girls are sticking with their team and the sport, which has changed how the team looks.

Practices are now a more collaborative effort. The new wrestlers work with the veteran wrestlers, and this makes Springer more available to jump around and monitor the practices instead of teaching each wrestler individually.

“Those first two weeks, we can run through more drills instead of teaching the same thing,” Springer said. “You can see our big freshman (class). They’re hungry to prove they belong on that varsity roster.”

Increased participation in kids clubs has also boosted the team’s skills. Wrestlers are joining the team as freshmen with experience in the sport. There are a few freshmen at both Lawrence and Free State who Springer believes could be state placers.

Both teams have a couple of seniors who have been with the program from the start and will lead their teams — Avery Sutton and Reann Rodriguez at Lawrence, and Zoe Milburn and Daijah Preston at Free State. For the most part, the four hadn’t wrestled before high school. Whether it was family, teammates or a spontaneous decision that led them to sign up, they all have fallen in love with the sport over the course of their high school careers.

This season will be their final ride together.

The four said they’re feeling sentimental about it. Having been with the team since the early days and experienced practices with far fewer wrestlers, they are responsible for the success and development of the programs as much as their coaches. The relationships they’ve built are something that the seniors don’t take for granted.

“It is a really positive environment,” Preston said. “Without wrestling, I don’t know if I would be friends with any of these people, and I’m glad that it has brought us all together because these are some of my closest friends.”

The connections extend beyond just their own schools. Girls wrestling is different from many other sports in this two-school town, in that there’s not an intense rivalry between the Lions and the Firebirds. They practice together, often compete side-by-side and cheer for each other. In some ways, they feel that they represent all of Lawrence, not just one high school.

Springer has had other assistant coaches and spot coaches come in and work with the teams. Thanks to coaches who train at the Ground Theory gym, the teams have learned some jiu-jitsu techniques, too. This has helped them become more well-rounded on the mat and better understand wrestling and other combat sports.

“The more and more wrestling coaches we get, the more different ways we get to see moves being done,” Sutton said. “I think that’s a really big part. Seeing how they do different stuff so you can adapt it to your style of wrestling.”

This season, the expectations and the hopes are higher than ever. In the first year, some wrestlers’ goals were often just to win a match. They were dipping their toes into the sport for the first time, and they were struggling to win.

But now, the goals include placing at the state tournament and beating the top-ranked girls in the state. Both teams are looking to place and to show what they can do.

“We had nobody winning a tournament two years ago,” Springer said. “Last year we had several (girls) compete for championships. I see those same girls. We had no seniors last year — that whole crew came back. So I see that success and hope that we can build on that.”