Girls who were going to join the wrestling team back out from criticism and lack of acquaintance
Breaking the stereotype of a male dominated sport, freshmen Lucia Dalle Oro and Erin Tatangsurja were going to join the wrestling team. Tatangsurja attended the pre-season conditioning, lifting weights and running on the track. Meanwhile, Dalle Oro, a varsity cross-country runner, decided to join because Tatangsurja was joining. However, Tatangsurja’s decision was overriden by her parents, and now neither will join the wrestling team as planned.
Tatangsurja had wanted to join the wrestling team for a better lifestye.
"I’ve generally avoided sports when I was little." Tatangsurja said. "Now, I think I need some sort of activity to be healthy for one and I thought that wrestling was just a good way [to do that]."
She was part of the wrestling club in Lawson Middle School, but did not learn much because of the club’s large size. Her inexperience in other sports led her to chose wrestling, which most people start in middle or high school.
"[Wrestling] is a sport that most people haven’t been doing since they were little. I guess I can learn in wrestling rather than catching up in order focus on myself instead," Tatangsurja said.
She did not think that her gender in a stereotypically male sport hinders her ability in wrestling.
"It’s kind of [a stereotype]. If I beat [other male opponents] it’s more significant than a guy beating a girl," Tatangsurja said.
Though her parents have accepted Tatangsurja’s decision to pursue a healthier lifestyle, they were critical of her choice of sport.
"They’re glad that I’m taking a step to be more active but they’re not very happy that I’ve chosen wrestling," Tatangsurja said. "They think its weird and not a proper sport for a girl."
In the end, they stopped Tatangsurja from joining by refusing to sign the permission forms for school sports.
On the other hand, Dalle Oro, who is also a varsity cross country runner, had taken on wrestling in physical education class in Kennedy Middle School and was interested at the idea of joining the [[MVHS]] team.
"I heard Erin talking about it and was like ‘Hey, cool! Girl power!’" Dalle Oro said."It’s kind of fighting stereotypes, that yes [girls] are naturally weaker, but that doesn’t mean we always lose."
However, after Erin was unable to join, Dalle Oro decided against joining the wrestling team since she would be the only girl. Instead, she decided to join off-season cross-country running.
Even though Dalle Oro and Tatangsurja are girls, their presence on the team would have been welcomed.
"One of our coaches is also a girl," team member junior Adnan Hamwi said.
The Wrestling season started on Nov. 9.
