One of the guys and the only girl on the team
RANDOLPH — Emilee Olson is the only member of the Quad County Northeast Blaze wrestling team smiling in the team photo.
She’s elated about girls wrestling officially sanctioned this year by the Nebraska School Activities Association and she’s not afraid to show it. In a sea of male stoicism, it’s the paradox of being happy to be one of the guys as the only girl on the team.
“It’s like having another family with a lot of brothers,” she said. “That’s what I like best about it - how good the team is and how much they support everybody.” Coach Mark Leach said Olson fits in and the
Coach Mark Leach said Olson fits in and the team supports her.
“At the Creighton tournament, her matches were some of the most cheered on by her teammates,” he said.
Deciding to take the mat herself was not a decision Olson wrestled with. It was her actual older brothers - Patrick, Blake, Ethan and Carter - that she watched compete that inspired her to try it for herself. “It seemed like a really cool sport so when the
“It seemed like a really cool sport so when the school gave me the chance to wrestle, I immediately was like, ‘Of course,’ “ she said, first competing as an eighth-grader after helping with stats in seventh grade.
It helped that her good friend, Abby Schmit, blazed the trail for girls wrestling at Randolph - competing her senior year in the then boys-only sport during the 2020-21 season. Two other girls from Laurel later joined Schmit on the co-oped Blaze team.
“I think having the three girls last year helped in the fact that the boys don’t even think twice now about having girls at practice and at contests,” Leach said.
Olson and Schmit said they wish Nebraska would’ve sanctioned girls wresting sooner, but better late than never.
“I was very excited even though it was over for me,” Schmit said, now attending Bryan College of Health Sciences In Lincoln to study diagnostic medical sonography. “It’s a good opportunity for all the girls after me.”
While Olson is on the high school team as a freshman this year, three more girls participated in wrestling at the Junior High level, said Tom Shafer, the coach for the younger squad.
Gracie Wortman, Maddie Aulner and Riley Wachter - all seventh-graders - competed this year and will be coming up through the ranks.
If anything, sanctioning girls wrestling gives girls a second choice during the winter season when it comes to sports participation, he said.
“Wrestling is an individual sport while being a part of a team,” Shafer said. “Whether one is male or female, there is always a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction when winning a match or learning from a loss and getting better.”
Girls and boys wrestling generally have the same competition rules but girls have different weight classes. Girls are only able to wrestle other girls and Olson has competed at mixed tournaments where boys and girls compete as well as girls only events.
Since there is not a separate girls Blaze team, it does make logistics difficult in taking Olson to separate tournaments, Leach said. At boys-only meets, Olson keeps busy by keeping stats.
Olson’s easygoing, amiable demeanor has started taking a backseat when she steps onto the mat, becoming more aggressive each time she faces an opponent.
“She does all of the conditioning and drills that the boys do,” Leach said. “She is better at some of our coordination and tumbling drills than the boys are.”
And even though she’s still learning the ropes, she’s done fairly well so far in her freshman season.
“Being a freshman, also is learning the other parts of the sport like making weight, weighing in properly, how tournaments work at the varsity level and how to prepare yourself in practice and at contests,” Leach said. “She has improved greatly in the first part of the season.”
An overall record of 2-4 does not reflect the quality of girls she has beaten, Leach said, placing second at two tournaments.
Always the bridesmaid and never the bride, Olson laments about finishing second twice - something her teammates frequently rib her about.
The whole team has had a topsy turvy go of it so far, Leach said, with Olson joining many on the team who are wrestling at the varsity level for the first time.
“As we enter into the second part of the season, I feel success will come now that many of the wrestlers have gotten to their desired weight and have gained some experience,” Leach said. “ We have goals in front of us that are out there to be achieved but we must continue to get better.” Olson’s next big showing will be Thursday in
Olson’s next big showing will be Thursday in Columbus but her own personal goals extend past this week. Her ultimate goal? Wrestling in college.
“I just really hope to see a lot of people start recognizing the sport and enjoying it as much as boys wrestling,” she said. “And that the opportunities grow more just for all the girls out now.”