On February 16th, 2025 Chelsea High School hosted the women’s regional wrestling tournament for the first time ever. And while both of Chelsea’s wrestlers weren’t able to compete due to injuries, there were lots of spectators and other excited wrestlers ready to compete. It being the first time it has been hosted by Chelsea there was lots of attention from the community and surrounding cities.

“I think it’s going to help because the community is gonna realize that girls’ wrestling is a big thing too,”  junior John Chapman said.

The tournament was heard of around town and wrestlers think it will bring more recognition to the female side of the sport. It was also an opportunity for people to learn more about how this tournament is set up and run.

“I think it was very fun and a big learning curve,” Chapman said. “And I learned a lot more about the way the girls’ tournament operates compared to the guys’ tournament.”

Though the wrestlers learned some new stuff they also saw some new stuff too. There are some cool moves and takedowns that the female wrestlers perform differently than the guys, so some wrestlers mentioned that it was interesting to see those done.

“It was pretty cool when the heavyweight girls were throwing headlocks and stuff,” Chapman said. “They were just repeatedly throwing headlocks and rolling around the mat.”

Though some cool things were seen, the effect on the sports program, school, and the community is way more important. Women’s wrestling is relatively looked past in the sports community of Chelsea but needs more recognition and this tournament helped with exactly that.

“I think it’ll help our wrestling community and hopefully get more girls involved because girls in Chelsea can see how cool it is,” Chapman said.