Holton’s Justice Hill finds the upper edge on Fruitport’s Sydney Russell.
(Photo courtesy of Jason Boorman)
By Jason Goorman
LocalSportsJournal.com
There is a first for everything, especially when it comes to high school sports.
The Greater Muskegon Athletic Association hosted its first “official” girls wrestling city championships on January 24 at Ravenna High School in front of hundreds of area fans.
Traditionally, boys have dominated the world of high school wrestling. But the Michigan High School Athletic Association made girls wrestling an official high school sport in 2021-22 and area girls have been picking up the new option to compete in high school sports.
“It’s really exciting and it’s fun to see more girls come out and see it grow each year,” said Miley Manzo, Whitehall’s first-ever 110-115 girls city champ. “I was really excited to come and be able to wrestle with the boys together too, so we could watch everything together.”
The GMAA consists of 13 high schools in Muskegon County, and so far, there are eight participating schools among girls wrestlers.
For Manzo, it’s her fifth year wrestling and she attributes her interest in the sport to her older brother Cody (Manzo).
“My older brother got me into it,” said Miley. “I like the team and how all of us are together.”
Now that Miley has a city title of her own in her sophomore year, she just might have something to talk about around the dinner table as her brother Cody finished runner-up at Saturday’s GMAA boys wrestling event.
For Montague girls wrestling coach Andrew Nold, having girls compete at the GMAA made sense.
“We had another tournament scheduled last year and our AD’s (GMAA athletic directors) got together and made sure this could happen for everybody,” said Nold. “Today was awesome, it was the first step to make it even and give these girls another step to make recognition.”
The first-year event had all eight weight classes compete with girls from Fruitport, Holton, Montague, North Muskegon, Oakridge, Ravenna, Reeths-Puffer and Whitehall.
While there aren’t quite enough wrestlers to form a full-team event, there are still plenty to host a city tournament.
“Zaniya (Meza) is the first girl to bring a GMAA championship for Montague,” said Nold, who has been coaching girls wrestling at Montague for six seasons. “It was really cool to see one of our girls take it home in the first year.”
Thirty-four wrestlers competed on the day as Fruitport and North Muskegon each had nine competiting. Holton had four, Montague and Whitehall both had three, Reeths-Puffer and Oakridge had two each while Orchard View and Ravenna each brought one.
GMAA Girls City Wrestling Champions
130 - Kassie Sapp, Whitehall, P. Addysen Chase, NM 1:45
135/140 - Kelsie Vandervelde, NM, P. Hudsyn Fielstra, NM 4:38
145-155 - Sidney Shackelford, Reeths-Puffer, TF. Sallyana Conn, Fruitport, 15-0
170/190 - Bellamie Deater, Ravenna, P. Emma Trevino, Montague, 0:15
100 - Justice Hill, Holton, MD. Sydney Russell, Fruitport, 8-0
105 - Zaniya Meza, Montague, P. Audra Allen, NM, 3:57
110-115 - Miley Manzo, Whitehall, TF. Audrey Hinton, Fruitport, 17-1
120-125 - Bryelle Hirdes, Fruitport, P. Brooklyn Colson, Reeths-Puffer, 3:01
LocalSportsJournal.com
There is a first for everything, especially when it comes to high school sports.
The Greater Muskegon Athletic Association hosted its first “official” girls wrestling city championships on January 24 at Ravenna High School in front of hundreds of area fans.
Traditionally, boys have dominated the world of high school wrestling. But the Michigan High School Athletic Association made girls wrestling an official high school sport in 2021-22 and area girls have been picking up the new option to compete in high school sports.
“It’s really exciting and it’s fun to see more girls come out and see it grow each year,” said Miley Manzo, Whitehall’s first-ever 110-115 girls city champ. “I was really excited to come and be able to wrestle with the boys together too, so we could watch everything together.”
The GMAA consists of 13 high schools in Muskegon County, and so far, there are eight participating schools among girls wrestlers.
For Manzo, it’s her fifth year wrestling and she attributes her interest in the sport to her older brother Cody (Manzo).
“My older brother got me into it,” said Miley. “I like the team and how all of us are together.”
Now that Miley has a city title of her own in her sophomore year, she just might have something to talk about around the dinner table as her brother Cody finished runner-up at Saturday’s GMAA boys wrestling event.
For Montague girls wrestling coach Andrew Nold, having girls compete at the GMAA made sense.
“We had another tournament scheduled last year and our AD’s (GMAA athletic directors) got together and made sure this could happen for everybody,” said Nold. “Today was awesome, it was the first step to make it even and give these girls another step to make recognition.”
The first-year event had all eight weight classes compete with girls from Fruitport, Holton, Montague, North Muskegon, Oakridge, Ravenna, Reeths-Puffer and Whitehall.
While there aren’t quite enough wrestlers to form a full-team event, there are still plenty to host a city tournament.
“Zaniya (Meza) is the first girl to bring a GMAA championship for Montague,” said Nold, who has been coaching girls wrestling at Montague for six seasons. “It was really cool to see one of our girls take it home in the first year.”
Thirty-four wrestlers competed on the day as Fruitport and North Muskegon each had nine competiting. Holton had four, Montague and Whitehall both had three, Reeths-Puffer and Oakridge had two each while Orchard View and Ravenna each brought one.
GMAA Girls City Wrestling Champions
130 - Kassie Sapp, Whitehall, P. Addysen Chase, NM 1:45
135/140 - Kelsie Vandervelde, NM, P. Hudsyn Fielstra, NM 4:38
145-155 - Sidney Shackelford, Reeths-Puffer, TF. Sallyana Conn, Fruitport, 15-0
170/190 - Bellamie Deater, Ravenna, P. Emma Trevino, Montague, 0:15
100 - Justice Hill, Holton, MD. Sydney Russell, Fruitport, 8-0
105 - Zaniya Meza, Montague, P. Audra Allen, NM, 3:57
110-115 - Miley Manzo, Whitehall, TF. Audrey Hinton, Fruitport, 17-1
120-125 - Bryelle Hirdes, Fruitport, P. Brooklyn Colson, Reeths-Puffer, 3:01
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