With the fastest-growing sport continuing to evolve, Wayne High will showcase 23 girls wrestlers this upcoming season.
After starting as co-head coach, Jason Trautman will be in his third year leading the Blue Devil girls program. He also brings nearly 10 years of coaching experience.
"The girls had opportunities to attend several camps, including one hosted by a couple of Huskers and another with the Purler Wrestling Academy," said Trautman. "There were open mat sessions, wrestling leagues and several of the girls competed in some club wrestling with AAU and NEUSAW."
Terry Beair and Ava Culver will be assistants on the girls side for coach Trautman while Levi Pofahl leads the Wayne boys team.
This year's three seniors are Serenity Heil, Megan Magnuson and Nyla Bolles.
Ahead of the first NSAA winter practices on Nov. 17, the Wayne High girls team attended morning weights to help build strength in the offseason.
With majority of last year's team returning, there is a lot of experience in the room.
"With that being said, we also have quite a few new faces," said Trautman. "The goal for this first week is to set the tone one practice at a time. Introducing basics and purposefully drilling with our goals in mind is the focus right now."
Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is a goal that coach Trautman has set.
"Pushing oneself to the limit so that they can exceed it is challenging," said Trautman. "However, getting into the mindset that they can push harder than they think they can or find success where there is doubt is a major goal of the program."
The Wayne High girls wrestling team graduated one senior at the 155 weight class and will be bringing in a lot of new girls. The season will showcase a full team looking to be competitive at each event.
The top returners are those with state action last season being Serenity Heil, Anna Naeve and Nyla Bolles.
"Nyla is a two-time medalist (second last year and third the year prior)," said Trautman. "Serenity and Anna qualified last year and had some great matches down at state. We also have a handful of girls who narrowly missed out on state last year, who have high expectations."
The freshman class will also provide some additional experience following a successful junior high and club campaign. They include Hadley Woehler, Reagan McManigal, Ayvree Abler, Zoe Bolles and Alex Ziska.
Senior Nyla Bolles is coming off an injury during her summer wrestling competition which sidelined her until the end of the softball season this past fall.
She first started wrestling her freshman year and it is still up in the air which weight class she'll be competing in this season.
"Anna Neave and I attended the NATF (Norfolk Athletic Training Facility) practices over the summer," said Nyla Bolles. "We not only worked on refining our technique, but we also learned to become more offensive wrestlers. Anna and I plan on contributing our knowledge of the sport and implementing new techniques into our practices this season."
Now in her fourth year during the first week of practice, Nyla Bolles looks for who has what it takes to be a wrestler, who wants to win and who has the desire to be the best.
A couple team goals include placing at state duals while sending multiple girls to the state tournament.
"I am excited to see how the team developed over the summer and to get to watch new girls develop and compete," said Nyla Bolles. "Watching the hard work we put in pre-season will pay off, and I cannot wait to see it."
She also added that the Wayne High girls wrestling program is incredibly grateful for all the support.
"It can be challenging to get girls to join the sport, but with a community as encouraging as ours, every step is worth it," said Nyla Bolles. "Everyone's support made my recovery easier, and knowing so many people cared for and stood by me deepened my appreciation for our Blue Devil family. Thank you for always being in our corner."
Coach Trautman pulled a great quote from one of Nebraska’s practices.
"Coach Manning said, 'you can’t practice soft and wrestle hard'," said Trautman. "An individual creates habits during practice time that will show on the mat. I want those habits that are fostered during drilling and live sessions to reflect intensity and purpose. I think there is always room for growth in that area."
The Blue vs. White scrimmage will be held on Nov. 25 at 6 p.m. in the ELC gym to determine varsity starters for the beginning of the season.
The Wayne High girls wrestlers will first join their boys program for a road triangular at Wisner-Pilger along with Summerland on Dec. 4 at 6 p.m.
"Wisner will have a couple of tough girls and Summerland is very stout and will be a challenge to start off the year," said Trautman. "We will potentially see them again at NSWCA State Duals, so this could be a good tone setter. We have our first Invite in Doane the next day, so we will need to bring our A-game."
Wayne High home wrestling action will be on Dec. 11 (dual with Norfolk Catholic) and Jan. 29 (triangular with Crofton/O'Neill).
"The program is continuing to grow and we would love to see the community involvement continue to grow," said Trautman. "We would love to see the stands packed in support."
