High school girls’ wrestling was unanimously voted to join the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) in January of 2022 (IAwrestle). Liberty High School created a girls’ wrestling program in 2022, the year it was sanctioned.
The program started with eight wrestlers, and today has nearly 40. Derek Coorough has been the head coach of the Liberty Girls Wrestling team since 2022. He is also the girls wrestling coach at North Central and runs the North Liberty wrestling club, motivating more girls to take on wrestling on a high school level.
Eva Karam (she/her), 10, credits the growth this program has seen in four years to coaching and leadership, as well as the growth of the sport throughout Iowa.
“Derek does a great job of creating opportunities for us,” Karam said. “Iowa women’s wrestling [is] one of the most dominant women’s college teams out there. And so it helps being in Iowa. we’re in Wrestletown, USA, which makes more girls want to try it out for themselves.”
So far this season, the Bolts are ranked thirdof 55 Iowa schools in Class 2A (Bound). With 51 wins and one loss as of Jan. 9.
Girls’ high school wrestling is ranked differently from boys; girls’ rankings are based on how many wrestlers a team has ranked in their varsity lineup. Liberty has a total of seven girls ranked so far this season.
Taylor Cavanh, (she/her) 12, has been a part of the wrestling program since it began. As one of the upperclassmen leaders, Cavanh sees the team’s success as a result of the hard work and effort the team has put in.
“You have your coaches in your corner, you have your teammates cheering you on. But at the end of the day, you’re the one out there that has to do it, has to execute it and has to live with the consequences of how much effort you put in,” Cavanh said, “Because wrestling is 100% a sport where you get in what you put out, Hard work beats talent.”
As the season comes to an end, the team’s main goal is to qualify as many wrestlers as possible to the state tournament on Feb. 5-6 at Coralville’s Xtream Arena.
