ROCK SPRINGS - High school wrestling has traditionally been a male-dominated sport but now three girls from Meigs High School are trying to leave their mark on the sport and their team.

Senior Ashley Samar, junior Nikkie Guinther and freshman Brittany Harrison are currently on the Meigs High School Wrestling Team along with 15 other boys.

Danny Davis who has been an assistant wrestling coach at Meigs for four years and head coach for two years said his current trio of female wrestlers were not the first to join the team, saying that two other girls had paved the way for them in previous years.

However, the team's current group of girls are still an anomaly in a sport that consists mainly of boys which means they more often than not wrestle boys in matches.

During those matches the girls are treated as equals.

“They don't take it easy on us,” Harrison said. “They don't want to be beat by a girl.”

Samar, who is described as “very athletic” by Davis has won 12 matches this year according to her female teammates who said they've learned a lot by watching her wrestle, including wrestling and winning against boys.

Guinther herself has won two matches against boys though Harrison who is still in her first year as a wrestler is still awaiting her first match win.

Still, Harrison said wrestling has taught her to never give up and how to stand up for herself. She makes no excuses about why she has not won a match, including the unacceptable excuse that she is a girl, and said she needs to work harder.

Both Harrison and Guinther call themselves “one of the boys” while Samar was this year's homecoming queen at Meigs High School.

All the girls are athletes who contribute to the team according to their coaches.

“They do a good job at competitions and it is hard for young ladies to keep up with young men in this sport,” assistant wrestling coach Ray Willford said.

Davis agreed that the girls are competitive, especially in the lower weight classes.

“The girls also contribute to the team by filling the lower weight classes,” Davis added. “Those lower weight classes contribute to team points.”

Davis said he does not coach the girls any different than the boys which includes grueling practices meant to physically condition the athletes. This conditioning helps prevent injuries to athletes which can happen to either boys or girls, though Davis said girls are more limber and flexible than boys making them suited to the sport in that sense.

The girls also only wrestle boys that are in their weight division.

The girls agreed one of the toughest parts of wrestling is dropping and maintaining weight, and wearing the uniforms normally worn by boys.

Weight and unflattering uniforms aside, it takes nerve to walk onto that wresting matt and begin a match.

Harrison said at first she was afraid people would laugh at her during competitions but according to Davis and Willford, the girls have a huge following at the matches.

“I think the fans usually pull for the girls,” Willford said.

The cheering from their teammates is something the girls also appreciate.

“All the guys on our team are supportive,” Guinther said. “When we're in a match they're screaming ‘pin'em down' from the side.”

The girls also added that the boys on their team and boys they've wrestled from other teams have been nothing but professional.

As for what's next for the girls, they have the same goals as their male counterparts which is to go to a state tournament because although they are different genders they are all wrestlers and all a team.