HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING: GILL BECOMES FIRST FEMALE WRESTLING ASSISTANT AT HORSEHEADS (2021-11-30)

By Brian Fees
Southern Tier Sports Report
It’s one of the fastest growing sports in the country.

Colleges are adding it all the time, including just recently Elmira College. Women’s wrestling is something that more and more young women are viewing as a sport they should consider.

More and more women are becoming a part of the sport of wrestling, and at Horseheads High School they are embracing that as they just hired their first female assistant wrestling coach with Terri Gill being approved as an assistant coach.

“I have been a fan of the wrestling teams for years,” she said. “So, I’m thrilled to actually work with the kids instead of just going to watch.”

In the past Gill was the cross country coach, and she worked with the wrestling team. Now, she is getting a chance to work with them regularly as a wrestling coach.

“Rick Gumble (The sectional chairperson at Chenango Forks) over the summer was talking to me about how Section 4 is pushing women’s wrestling, actually it’s being pushed across the state. When the position came open, I used to coach cross country and I worked with the wrestling coaches back then to provide cross training workouts during the season for the wrestlers, so I thought you know what, I’ve worked with some of these kids before and what I’ve done has been beneficial to them, so I talked to the two coaches and coach (Brett) Owen was like ‘oh my God,’ this would be perfect.”

One of the challenges when it comes to women’s wrestling is getting girls at a young age to realize that it’s a sport they could do. Having a female coach can only help to get younger girls into the sport.

“If they see it, then it becomes a role model they want to do,” Gill said. “I teach first grade and I told them what I was doing and they all stopped and looked at me and said you do what? And I said, yes, I’m coaching wrestling a little girl looked at me and she goes ‘do girls wrestle and I said they do.’ I think providing those role models opens up even as a possibility for little kids and as they see more and more girls it becomes a sport for both and not just boys.

“You have to realize it’s a possibility before you attempt to try it.”

It can make girls who do join the wrestling team more comfortable having a female coach.

“It is,” Gill said. “Narayani (Niraula) who is on our team currently was thrilled that I was coming and she’s come to me with a few questions that I know she would not have felt comfortable with a male coach. We have a young lady who is coming out now for the midfield as well and I do think it helps them to be able to see women out there as well.”

Gill hopes that all the growth in the sport one day leads to girls wrestling being run at schools throughout the state.

“That would be outstanding,” she said. “We just went to a JV tournament  and they had a girls division so it was nice they got to wrestle each other instead of mix in with the boys. Growing the sport provides so many opportunities for girls. It’s one of the largest growing sports for college opportunities, so it opens those doors. Just what you learn as a person from wrestling is valuable for girls and women alike.”

And, already Gill can see the sport growing throughout the area.

“Coring I believe has more than four, so if you look around at every wrestling team you are starting to see more and more girls participating,” Gill said.

Getting a chance to wrestle other girls is something that is special for a lot of female wrestlers.

“They was one girl who did not fit in with the other girls on the weight classes and she wrestled the guys and she did an outstanding job, but it is different,” Gill said. “Because your bodies are made differently and that impacts your wrestling styles. We will be going to Penfield and they have a women’s division there so that will give our girl a chance as well as girls from every other school that is going to compete against themselves, which will definitely help the sport grow.

“Even if the girl is very good, a lot of this is new for the girls. I know the girls on our team, both of them, are first year wrestlers. So to go against a guy that has come through the pee wee program it’s very difficult. So a chance to face other girls, even if they are experienced, which we saw some very experienced ones this weekend, is a nice experience for them.”
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IN PHOTO: Horseheads Assistant wrestling coach Terri Gill. . . PHOTO BY BRIAN FEES