Four Morton East girl wrestlers went all the way to state this year.

Violet Mayo and Hope Donnamario qualifed in their weight classes. There were also two alternates, Monica Garcia and Andaira Marron. Wrestling is one of the oldest sports — and a favorite at Morton East.  According to Chatgpt, girls wrestling has been part of Morton High School’s athletic program for several years. In 2022, the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) officially recognized girls wrestling as a sport. That year, Morton had a strong showing, with nine wrestlers qualifying for the state competition. In wrestling, there are weight classes so there are fair competitions. Interestingly, some famous wrestling moves were inspired by real fighting techniques.

“In order to prepare myself for state, both mentally and physically, I needed to set goals for myself. Once I had those goals set, I knew what I needed to do to achieve them, which was to train as hard as I possibly can,” Senior Violet Mayo said.

Coach Fernando Arratia works with the girls from the very start.

“Each year, I am always proud of the growth all the girls make. The girls start their wrestling careers with little to no knowledge of the sport. To have them find ways to improve is always a proud moment. The fact that they improve so much to qualify for state is very impressive. This season, specifically, I felt the girls really bonded together and have created a great community among themselves. I am excited to see how much they grow in the next few years,” Coach Fernando Arratia said.

“Wrestling seems cool; the qualifiers inspired me to want to join wrestling,” Sophomore Crystal Santos said.