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Marlene Garcia

At the first ever Downey girls wrestling match on Saturday, Dec. 3, Brianna Garcia, 10, starts off the day going against Bell Gardens. “Having a girls wrestling team it shows that girls have the same strength, power and potential as guy,” Garcia said, “so like if guys can do it girls can do it.”

Starting off their first season, the girls wrestling team competed against North View, Del Oro,  Bell Gardens, and Birmingham on Sat., Dec. 3. The team had been learning new moves and drilling non stop at practices to get ready for their matches.

This is the first girls wrestling team at Downey High School, and with confidence and determination they believed they could conquer their first match.

Andie Perez, 10, explained her feelings about how she felt their first match was going to go and how the team felt.

“The whole team felt really confident going into our first match,” Perez stated, “so I believed that we were going to do just as well as the other teams.”

The announcement that claimed there was finally going to be girls wrestling team caused confusion but also excitement for breaking the chains of male-dominant sports.

Jessica Gudino,12 , explained how she felt about there finally being a girl wrestling team.

“I didn’t know how to react at first because I was so used to boys. I thought to myself ‘what is this’,” Gudino stated.  “The way they acted was so different than the boys. I was so accustomed to chill and laid back and when the girls got there it was loud and everyone was hyper.”

The team practices every day until four and works on learning new moves to prepare and get ready for their matches. The girls constantly have their team support them.

Haylie Leon, 10, explained how the team got ready for their first match and how Mrs. Avedissian was determined for the team to strive for greatness.

“To prepare for our first match we had two hours of practice everyday; it was pure drilling and learning moves until we got them perfect,” Leon stated, “and then practice that perfectly to be extra perfect as Mrs. A [Coach Avedissian] would say.”                                                                                               

In the first match of the season the girls prospered and they hope to use all of the techniques they have learned to strive for greatness going through their season. The team won 6 out of 8 matches leaving the Vikings with an overall win. The Lady Vikes supported each other through their matches yelling chants, giving high fives, and cheering for them.