Girls wrestlers enjoy full squad support

HUNTLEY — A bench full of Huntley High School girls wrestling team members looked on every time a teammate takes the mat.

This may seem to be a given, but that was not the case for the Red Raiders squad, which has grown from a handful of girls wrestlers last season.

“The support we get from teammates is great because we’ve been through the same thing,” HHS grappler Taylor Casey said. “Just in the past year the sport has grown so much. Girls are finding out a love for wrestling because it is both physical and mental.”

Casey, a junior, qualified for the IHSA state girls wrestling tournament in 2022 and won her first match.

“In the past, it was hard to find matches but we wrestled against the boys,” Casey said. I started as a sophomore in wrestling, I was in kickboxing since the fourth grade that made me not afraid of combat.”

HHS has enjoyed success as a full team this winter, with a 12-1-1 record in duals and a 3-1 mark at the recent Yorkville meet. HHS beat DeKalb 42-18 in the first match of 2023 on Jan. 3.

Casey took revenge against a DeKalb wrestler who had defeated her earlier in the season. “I was nervous because I had lost to her before, but I had nothing to lose,” Casey said. “I was physically tired but pushed myself through.”

Senior Addison Drews at 115 pounds also gained a win over her DeKalb foe. Wrestling is second nature for the Drews family of Huntley.

“I used to be a ‘practice dummy’ for my brother in our basement and my dad Dave is head wrestling coach at St. Charles North,” Drews commented. “Last year there was four of us girls and we went against the JV boys team. This year, with a full girls team, it’s awesome. We’re all supportive of each other.

“The girls have been grinding it out, winning a majority of their matches,” Huntley coach BJ Bertelsman said.