A Sport of Their Own: East High Girls Wrestling Team Represents a New Era in Athletics

Madison East junior Alana Schade was overtired, outweighed and overtly aware of the weight on her shoulders — literally and figuratively. The gym buzzed at the first-ever Girls Wrestling All-City Meet as teammates and spectators crowded the edge of the mat. And in the final match of the night, Schade found herself on her back, staring up at the fluorescent lights.

She had never pinned an opponent before, and by the second period, Schade was still down and searching for an opening. Until, suddenly, she escaped the hold, snapped up and reversed. The momentum shifted.

Now it was her opponent’s back flat against the mat. Schade locked in, holding tight as the referee dropped to the floor to check for control. The crowd noise blurred into a roar. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her teammates and members of the boys team pressed in close, watching.

Then the whistle. Schade’s jaw dropped — she had just earned her first pin, and with it, the East High School Girls Wrestling Team won the meet. In addition to beating out La Follette, Vel Phillips Memorial and West high schools for the team win, East’s individual all-city champions included senior captains Halana Lemke and Mara Smith, freshman Essence Webb and junior Neshia Williams.

For years, the only option across the state for girls interested in wrestling was to join their high school’s boys team. However, as popularity among girls wrestling surged nationwide in recent years, the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association held its inaugural girls state wrestling tournament in 2022. In 2025, WIAA girls regional tournaments were held for the first time. This school year marks the first time in MMSD history that all four comprehensive high schools have a designated girls wrestling team.

At East High especially, the entire wrestling program has skyrocketed in participation in recent years. Since Head Wrestling Coach Dayton Yu started in 2017, the program has grown from 12 wrestlers to almost 40 total, including nine on the girls team. 

A handful of the girls wrestling team, including Smith, Lemke and Williams, have the unique experience of wrestling before and after the girls team was established. While they were still winning matches and earning titles over their male opponents, the comfort and sense of community was lacking.

“Being able to have an actual girls team and girls conference is really empowering, because we actually have something of our own,” Williams said. “It's meant for us.”

Yu said girls wrestling having its own team makes it more approachable to newcomers, and that the benefits are endless.

“Once they get on the mat and learn wrestling, I think it's one of the greatest sports that you can do,” Yu said. “It helps them prep for other sports, it teaches them self defense, and I think it helps build confidence.”

Still, getting the first foot on the mat can be daunting to potential newcomers as they learn a historically male-dominated combat sport, navigating everything from complex holds to sometimes uncomfortable uniforms, junior Xandria Robinson said. 

“It is nerve wracking to start wrestling, definitely,” Lemke added. “But there are a lot of amazing girls on the team that will help you start your journey. And, like, just give it a try. It doesn't hurt to try.”

A lot of those benefits start at practice: a tireless mix of weightlifting, running stairs, sprints and drill routines on the mat. While practices include both the boys and girls teams, the girls team also gets to work with their own dedicated head wrestling coach, Dakarai Clay. Both Yu and Clay are alumni of East High’s wrestling program, along with other assistant coaches, creating a community of support.  

“It’s definitely helpful to have an experienced coach who has been through the same thing as you and seen it all thousands of times before,” Lemke, a senior said. “It’s bittersweet that my student-athlete experience is coming to an end, but I’m grateful I'll have the opportunity to come back and coach the next round of girls as a coach in the future.”

The girls team left it all on the mat at the first-ever regionals competition in Waunakee this February, where Lemke came out on top as the regional champion and Williams took second place, sending both to sectionals Feb. 20. 

East High Boys Wrestling Team Captain Melvin Hunter went on to compete at the individual state tournament at the Kohl Center the weekend of Feb. 28. He was joined by West High Girls Wrestling Captain Maya Assad Thompson, who was once the only member of the girls wrestling team at West.

Between the East High Girls Wrestling Team’s All-City win, Assad Thompson’s state run and the dozens of other female wrestlers competing across MMSD, one thing is very clear; no matter the school, girls wrestling isn’t just emerging anymore — it’s established, empowered and only growing stronger.