Listening to music, hyping herself up, and taking alone time while stretching are some of the pre-match rituals of South’s only female wrestler: sophomore Nicole Szafraniec. Everyday, Szafraniec heads to South’s gym ready to practice the sport she has fallen in love with since joining the wrestling team freshman year. 

Szafraniec originally expressed interest in wrestling after being cut from South’s volleyball team, she explained. Szafraniec noticed wrestling was a no-cut sport, and decided to try out and see what the sport entailed. This year, she returned to the mats as a JV wrestler. 

“[Wrestling] gives me a new perspective on life in many different ways,” Szafraniec said. “It gives me motivation to do things I would not normally do.”

One of the difficulties Szafraniec faces when wrestling on an South’s all-boy team is feeling like she belongs, Szafraniec said. But wrestling has also made her a more confident person as she becomes more and more successful in competing against boys, she said. 

“I struggle with fitting in and making friends with people because it is a different environment,” Szafraniec said. “I’m strong in being confident when I am walking out [to a match] and not caring what people think of me.”

Despite their gender, girls who choose to wrestle still want to be treated just like  everyone on the team is, Christopher Albandia, JV Wrestling Coach, explained. Albandia has coached four other girl wrestlers at South and Niles North, he said. He was excited to see Szafraniec try out because of how much women’s wrestling has grown in the last 10 years, especially within college programs. 

“Any female that I’ve ever coached has wanted to be treated like everyone else,” Albandia said. “They want to be part of the team.”

Girl wrestlers are unique because they are immersed in a male dominated sport, Albandia said. It takes a special type of person to commit themselves to a sport that is not very popular, especially when it consists mostly of boys participating, he said. 

“[Female wrestlers] have to break the mold that girls can not wrestle and constantly have to answer the condescending question ‘aren’t you afraid of getting hurt?’” Albandia said. “[Female wrestlers] are special because they [are not] trying to be ‘girls that wrestle’, they [are] trying to be wrestlers.”

The rest of Szafraniec’s team do not pay much attention to her gender, instead they pay attention to how well she wrestles and her character, JV wrestler junior Danny Cruz said. 

“I [do not] mind having a girl on the team, and I know [Szanfraniec] is a hard working wrestler,” Cruz said.  

Being the only girl on the team has shown her she can achieve whatever she puts her mind to, Szafraniec said. Skill is not everything in wrestling, dedication and motivation are also important factors in wrestling that can not simply be taught, she added. Trying her hardest along with practicing everyday makes her game better, Szafraniec said. 

“[Being the only girl] makes me unique because of the dedication I give towards [wrestling] and the hard work I put into it,” Szafraniec said.