Girls Wrestling on the rise at Norwalk High School
Norwalk High School Girls Wrestling head coach, Brian Devries with his team from left, Carlee Romero, Kayla Romero, Zitlali Sarmiento, Amahyi Aguilar, Aryssa Eslava and Liyah Salazar. (Photo by Keith Durflinger)
NORWALK - Even though there hasn’t been school in months and the wrestling season was over long ago, there was a certain buzz on the Norwalk High School campus this last year about the girls wrestling program.
In fact, just in its second year as a program, two of the girls won league titles.
Senior Anahy Aguilar (145 Lbs.) and sophomore Zitlali Sarmiento (128 Lbs.) each won their Suburban League titles last season.
“We had a lot of growth this past year,” second year girls wrestling coach Brian DeVries said. “In the 2018-19 season the program was young and just starting out. This past season we were still young but with some experience.
“I was brought on last summer to help grow the overall program at all levels, but mainly the girls program. Our program went from four girls in ‘18-’19 to nine girls this past year. By league finals we were down to five due to injuries, grades, and family issues.”
The Norwalk team still took five girls to compete at league finals. They were: Liyah Salazar, 118 Lbs., Sarmiento, 128 Lbs., Aryssa Eslava, 133 Lbs., Soley Garcia, 139 Lbs. and Aguilar, 145 Lbs.
All five girls advanced to the CIF-Southern Section championships for a program first. Only the top two placers advance to CIF.
“Of the five to CIF, only two were returners,” DeVries said. “We (coaches) were excited. This is what we did and that’s amazing. Now, it’s a point of pride. It was real fun for the girls.
“In wrestling, the terms and scoring are new to about 90% of athletes starting out. It’s definitely a learning experience.”
Capping the successful Suburban League finals for the Lancers were three seconds and the two individual league titles.
Salazar and Aguilar become Norwalk's first women wrestlers to make multiple CIF appearances, while Aguilar becomes the Lancers first two-time Suburban League Champ.
Aguilar started as the lone girl on the boys team in her freshman year and has seen it grow since then. “I’m hoping to come back and coach at Norwalk,” Aguilar said. “I would really love to do that.”
Eslava and Garcia, who were both first-year wrestlers last season, earned second place in league and also qualified for CIF by virtue of their hard work and determination.
DeVries, who graduated from Norwalk in 2000 and wrestled, was brought in by boys coach Frank Soto to get the girls program started..
“Within our team is a lot of growth,” said DeVries, who has been a special education teacher in the district for the past 15 years. He just finished his first year teaching at Norwalk in 2019-20.
“There’s a lot of excitement and they did some great things,” DeVries added.
Some of that excitement comes from veteran wrestler Aguilar and first-year freshman Sarmiento.
Aguilar had an older brother, Alberto (Norwalk graduate, 2013) on the wrestling team and a twin brother (Anthony) and her boyfriend (Alonzo Ramirez) on the current boys team.
She is surrounded by wrestlers and has waited for her upcoming senior year.
“I’ve been waiting for my senior and I hope it’s not lost,” said Anahy, of the current situation with the pandemic. “Not until my junior year did we just have a coach just for us. This year since we got a coach, more people are talking about joining (the team).”
Sarmiento, who began wrestling in the summer after eight grade, became the first Norwalk freshman to win a league title.
“When I first started, my friends were shocked,” said Sarmiento, who used to play volleyball, but now concentrates solely on wrestling. “At first it was a little difficult and I learned quickly. I would have to have my coach help me with my moves. Not many girls wrestle and I have a chance to compete.
“I think letting go of volleyball will be my best decision.”
Sarmiento, in that summer before high school, would go to both practices and totally be exhausted by the end of the day.
“Unfortunately, girls wrestling is not a universally accepted sport amongst young women,” DeVries said. “It is tough to get girls to sign up. Due to low numbers in the ‘18-’19 season, the girls team attended minimal tournaments.”
However, with his current group of wrestlers and newcomers, that sounds like a thing of the past.
Nationwide, 28 states now have state championships in high school.
DeVries, who has four young children - Duke (10), Lylah (8), Logan (7) and Lucas (5), and wife Wendy, describes his team as his “other” family. “Just before COVID hit in March, my wife and I were going in multiple directions with our four kids.” Wendy DeVries is a math teacher at Artesia and has been coaching volleyball at Artesia and a little at Norwalk.
In the beginning it was tough without a full team.
“Not getting busses due to low numbers, I would often drive the wrestlers in my suburban with my daughter (Lylah) by my side,” said DeVries, of his “unofficial coach”. “She wanted to go to every tournament with me.”
Lylah wrestled in their youth program and was even showing his wrestlers some of the moves and they said, ‘if this wrestler can do it, I can do it.’
“Parents also helped to drive their kids to tournaments in order to make the 7am weigh-ins. We were a wrestling family.”
DeVries’ daughter has slowly become his unofficial coach during tournaments with her encouragement on the sidelines.
“At the tournaments she would yell out the terms, ‘roll your fingers or walk them out,’” Aguilar said. “She would also record our matches and we would review them.”
No doubt, Lylah will be a future Lancer.
Two other wrestlers, sisters Kayla Romero, (freshman) and Carlee Romero (sophomore) both missed league finals due to missed weight and a broken collar bone, respectively. “Both of them are strong members of our wrestling family,” DeVries said. “We started off with 15 girls but dwindled down, as many quit, were injured or became academically ineligible. We packed our schedule with tournaments almost every weekend.
“The program is growing and will be competing for a league title next season,” DeVries saiud. “It would be our first as a girls wrestling program, assuming we have a season.
All these women work hard to break down stereotypes, work through doubters, ignore criticism of society and their peers, which is not easy for high schoolers. They pave paths for future women wrestlers and continue the nationwide growth and popularity of women's wrestling. Wrestling is a sport that prepares you for all sports. They truly have my respect and admiration.”
What they said:
Carlee Romero, sophomore - “My first year was interesting because I’ve never wrestled before. I was kind of behind as I was still learning. It was fun and definitely not what I expected. It feels like a new journey and we’re kind of discovering it. I would recommend it because it brings out a different side of girls. You get to be tomboyish, but you are still wrestling with girls. It is very empowering for girls.”
Kayla Romero, freshman - “I felt like it was a really good season. We had a lot of ups and downs, but in the end it was really worth it. It gave me a lot of strength and conditioning. It was scary at first because I had never done it before, but I had a lot of help because I go to a gym (House of Power) and it was easier. I’ve wrestled a boy before and we were equal in strength, but he had a little more technique. I guess I know what to learn.”
Aryssa Eslava - “This year was definitely challenging. It was my first time wrestling. I learned mental toughness and that made me a lot stronger, mentally and physically. This is not just a sport for boys and I feel strong in knowing that as a girl I can do this sport.”
Liyah Salazar - “I got injured a lot this year, but overall it was a really fun year. It was second year and I’m happy it (girls wrestling) is growing. It’s a beautiful sport, a beautiful sport. For other girls to experience it, I’m really happy about it. Some people think it isn’t a girls sport and I like to prove them wrong. Some boys take it easy because I am a girl, but there’s some guys out there who don’t like holding back and that’s what I like about it. There’s sometimes when I just want a challenge.”