Starting off her rookie season as a wrestler, junior Hannah Becker dominated the tough competition at the meet this past weekend 

“I wasn’t expecting to win, given it was my first meet,” Hannah said. “This weekend [we] made history in a way, and I am really happy about its final outcome.”

Hannah won the girls division at the Kent County Championships. She and her fellow teammates had been preparing for the tough competition that this weekend would bring and were ready to show what Forest Hills Central’s new girls wrestling program had in store.

Hannah wasn’t the only one on her team that brought back a victory; sophomore Rachel Schenk was also able to secure the top spot in her weight class of 112 lbs – 119 lbs. Rachel had to wrestle four opponents to secure this title, and she pulled it off against girls who had been wrestling far longer than she had.

“I was so excited to have won, considering that the girl I beat had been wrestling for four years,” Rachel said. “I wasn’t expecting to win, but I was definitely happy with the final outcome.”

Going into this weekend, head coach Brad Anderson was already confident in his girls; however, he could not be more proud of them and what they accomplished this weekend.

“You can’t base what you see in the training room on what you see in the arena,” Anderson said. “The girls did everything they could this weekend, and I was very impressed with all of their performances. It was an absolutely historic weekend, not only for Central wrestling but also statewide.”

This momentous weekend concluded with a special announcement that will now set history in the state of Michigan: the first ever girls wrestling State Championships will be held on Feb. 3, 2019.

“It’s breaking stereotypes,” Hannah said. “Everyone thinks wrestling is a guys sport, so it is really great to see how many girls were there this weekend getting out there and doing something that you don’t usually see. I am really excited to see what this season holds.”