KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A Sumner Academy senior is blazing the trail for girls' wrestling in Kansas.
Martha Vizcarra signed a national letter of intent Thursday to wrestle at Baker University next year.
"I was shocked," Vizcarra said. "As a female wrestler. not many people take you seriously."
Vizcarra made history as the first girl to wrestle at her high school. As a sophomore, she went to boys' wrestling coach Adam Beatty and asked to join the team.
"She started it as a cross-training opportunity for the football team," Beatty said.
Vizcarra and another female student suited up with the Sabres that year and it continued to grow from there.
"This year, it's blown up even more," Beatty said. "Just here in the local metro area, we went from having six or seven girls on our squad last year to having a full 21-girl squad starting this season."
Girls' wrestling is also on the rise across the nation.
In April, the Kansas State High School Activities Association approved a state tournament strictly for girls' wrestling.
Beatty said the sport is a great way to help students develop lifelong skills.
"The young ladies that have joined our wrestling team I think will benefit, whether they're able to continue on at the college level like Martha is or whether this just helps them develop into the whole person that they're going to be as they move past high school," Beatty said.
Sumner Academy junior Jadyn Bond said Vizcarra is an inspiration to her and her teammates.
"She gets it done, and her being the first one to go off to college with the girls' wrestling at Sumner, I feel like that's keeping a lot of the girls going," Bond said.
