Shaler-based female wrestling club gives girls place to compete
Envy led to Arianna Bernard putting some pressure on her dad to start wrestling.
Arianna, 9, was jealous when her brothers started piling up trophies. So she started putting pressure on Barry Bernard.
“When all my brothers started wrestling, I kept asking my dad if I could try out,” said Arianna, who lives in the New Kensington-Arnold School District and wrestles for Valley. “He kept saying no. He got annoyed and said yes. Now, I love it.”
Barry's initial reluctance has transformed into him trying to start a movement. He has been recruiting and founded the Black Widow Wrestling Club, which trains in Shaler.
The all-girls club has seven wrestlers — three from Valley, three from Highlands and one from Avonworth — and hopes to recruit more female wrestlers.
Bernard started the team after he saw five girls who had been part of the Vikings' program in middle school drop out.
“Girls that are starting out and wrestling fairly experienced boys are not getting a fair shake at the sport and learning what it's about,” Barry said. “Why not give these girls somewhere to wrestle where they wrestle just girls and learn the sport first? Once they start to learn the sport first, then give them a chance to integrate with the boys.”
Pennsylvania doesn't sponsor a girls division at the high school level. There has been some groundswell at the youth level. The Pennsylvania Junior Wrestling Council voted in mid-October to sponsor 14 all-girl weight classes spread across the 8-U, 9-10 and 11-12 age divisions for the 2017-18 seasons.
Eight states — Alaska, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas and Washington — have separate divisions for girls wrestling.
According to the Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association, the number of female high school wrestlers has grown from 804 to 11,496 since 1994.
Barry Bernard would like to help Pennsylvania take a step in that direction.
“The goal is to bring in more girls that haven't wrestled before,” he said. “We have four or five girls at an average practice.”
Tyarah Woody, 9, has enjoyed her experience with the club so far. Woody's goal is working toward continued improvement.
“My goal from wrestling is to be the most experienced in my group and get really good so I can get a lot of trophies and go to states,” Woody said.
Not always having to compete against the boys helps.
Arianna, who has wrestled for three years, likes being able to chase titles like everyone else.
“When I wrestle girls,” she said, “it helps me get stronger.”
Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.
