Shrum leads Raiders, Falcons carry strength in numbers

FARMINGTON — Don’t let the smell of perfume or the bright smiles fool you when you step into the gymnasium.

Girls across the state of Michigan have displayed fierceness and competitiveness in wrestling, whether it’s facing the boys in a co-ed match or going head-to-head with another girl.

Since the Michigan High School Athletic Association added a girls-only wrestling division for the 2021-2022 season, numbers have grown exponentially for numerous high schools across the state.

Girls have been wrestling for decades at the high school level, in small numbers, but this was the first opportunity where girls were prioritized in the sport of wrestling.

In its first year, nearly 400 girls wrestled in the regional meet, which was split up into just two regions prior to the state meet.

Now holding four regions consisting of nearly 800 wrestlers, and over 1,000 who competed this year in meets across the state, there’s hopes of potentially holding district meets, like the boys side does, next year because of the numbers increasing.

“It’s (numbers) almost tripled since last year,” Birmingham Groves wrestling coach Joseph Jones said. “It’s growing really, really fast.”

Jones and Groves were the host of the first-ever tri-county all-girls wrestling meet as schools from Wayne, Macomb and Oakland counties went head-to-head. Local all-girls tournaments are becoming more and more popular in the surrounding counties, whereas past years saw teams traveling two-three hours in order to compete.

A majority are learning the sport in high school, and some have seen siblings compete, but the one thing they all share in common is the love and passion for it.

As all-girls tournaments become more common, longtime coaches such as Warren Mott’s Paul Salyers, an assistant coach on the boys side and girls head coach this past year, are still getting used to the environment.

“You go into a wrestling gym where a boys tournament is being held, and oh my God does it stink,” Salyers said. “There’s BO (body odor) everywhere. You go into a girls tournament and it’s a cacophony of perfume. It’s hilarious to me. The girls will get down after beating the crap out of another girl, and with boys, they’ll get done and they’re strutting around like they’re the king, but the girls will get done, get their hand raised and go over and hug the girl they just beat up on and go, ‘Honey, this is what you need to do next time, because I was able to do this because you were doing this wrong.’ It’s just funny. You don’t see that with the boys.”

As more girls continue to join, local teams are wishing upon a star that the popularity of wrestling and the success of their current girl wrestlers is only a sign of more wrestlers to come.

 

Farmington
Over at Farmington, a trio of underclassmen girls on the wrestling team exemplify strength to a tee, according to wrestling head coach Ben Jozwiak.

“The girls that come out for the traditionally boy sports like wrestling and football, they’re the toughest of the tough,” Jozwiak said. “They’re the ones that have the chip on the shoulder, saying, ‘Oh, girls can’t do this.’ They have the attitude like, ‘Screw that — I’ll do what I want to do.’”

Sophomore Ella Baron led the way for the Falcons, earning 16 wins this season in a massive step-forward season for the second-year wrestler.

Baron also runs track and field and competes in swim and dive for Farmington, and Jozwiak said it’s her dedication, work ethic and mindset that stand out.

“I tell everyone on the (boys) team all the time that if I could put Ella’s head and put it into your bodies, we’d be state champs,” Jozwiak said. “She’s 95 pounds and is wrestling at 106, and she’s never said anything about it. As a coach, you feel lucky to have someone like that.”

Mindset was a point of emphasis for Baron this season after going through the early struggles of a first-year high school wrestler last season, but she continues to improve meet after meet.

After picking up the win in her first match at regionals, Baron would drop her next two matches, including to the No. 1 seed in the weight class, ending her season.

Overall, Baron credited her change in mentality for her success this season, including against the boys side, where she was victorious more than half the time.

“I was definitely more confident, and my attitude changed a little,” Baron said. “After last season, I felt a little defeated, because I didn’t make it as far as I wanted to. This year, I felt like, ‘I’m so good.’ It was definitely a change in attitude from last year.”

Freshmen Akasha Cormican and Makenna Darden-Root were unable to compete at regionals due to injury, but both came into their own throughout the season as varsity newcomers.

With Baron, Cormican and Darden-Root all holding wrestling experience at the high school level, Jozwiak is anticipating the numbers on the girls side to increase next year with incoming freshmen.

The trio will step into a leadership role as the seasoned veterans and pass on their passion for the sport.

“At first, I kind of joined as like a, ‘Oh, this seems fun. Maybe I’ll do it,’” Baron said. “Now, I love it. It’s one of my favorite things to do.”

 

North Farmington
Someone had to be a trailblazer for the girls side at North Farmington, and junior Lorelei Shrum has assumed that role to perfection.

The lone female wrestler for the Raiders, Shrum was the first-ever female wrestler in school history to place at the state finals March 2 at Ford Field, earning sixth.

“It was insane,” Shrum said. “It was unreal just being in Ford Field and being around all those competitive girls and just around such supportive people. The entire environment was just something I’ve never experienced before. I’m so glad I got to take part in it.”

Shrum is a seasoned veteran to the sport of wrestling, competing since she was in sixth grade. Shrum took last season off, but returned this year with a fire under her, earning regional runner-up.

While battling an injury throughout the season, Shrum persevered through the adversity, and she said the Groves Lady Falcons Tournament Feb. 19 was a turning point for her.

“In my first match at that tournament, I wrestled a girl that had beat me freshman year, but I almost got her,” Shrum said. “I came back to this tournament and beat her in my first match, and I think just winning that match and seeing my ability to succeed really helped grow my confidence a ton.”

There are difficulties that come with being the only girl wrestler on the squad: not having another girl to converse with or lean on and the inability to practice with another girl to prepare for matches against girls.

But the guys understand where she’s at, and Shrum said her team couldn’t be more supportive and helpful with whatever she needs help with, calling them her “rock.”

Shrum said she’s seen the change across the girls’ side of wrestling, and she’s hoping that translates to North Farmington as well.

“Especially with the implementation with the girls division as a whole with regionals and states, because that’s a whole new concept, I definitely think it’s giving girls a chance to further succeed and see more success as a whole,” Shrum said. “Also, for people to see girls and say, ‘Oh, they’re girls but they’ll always lose to guys,’ but to go and win states and be like, ‘Wow, these girls are phenomenal. These girls are truly great.’ Seeing that unforeseen success in girls, I think that’s rocked a lot of people’s mindsets and changed the way people see girls wrestlers. There’s definitely been a big change in mindset as a whole over what people believe girl wrestlers can do. People are finally coming to see, ‘Hey, maybe girls can do it too. Maybe the girls can do what the boys can do.’”

North Farmington wrestling head coach Robert Mathieson said he’s hoping an influx of female wrestlers comes their way in the coming years.

“I’m really trying to manifest it,” Mathieson said. “Pretty much now starts the recruiting season of walking through the halls and more or less strong-arming kids into giving wrestling a shot or peeking into the room and seeing what it looks like. That’s going to include a lot of girls.”