This winter, Southern Lehigh High School debuts its girls’ wrestling team. Prior to this year, girls interested in wrestling had to practice and compete on the high school boys team. However, with more states sanctioning the sport each year, girls’ wrestling has quickly become the fastest growing high school sport in the country, according to the Associated Press. In May 2023, the sport was recognized by the state of Pennsylvania, and shortly after, the Southern Lehigh School Board approved girls’ wrestling as a varsity sport.
In December, the team faces off against other Colonial League teams, including Lehighton and Emmaus who have their own girls’ teams. With their own female divisions, girls will now have the opportunity to individually qualify for the state tournament later in the season.
The team practices under the coaching of Ms. Destiny Lyng, who competed as a wrestler throughout high school and college, winning the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national championship title in 2022.
“I’m from a state that’s had girls wrestling sanctioned for 20 years, so it’s about time Pennsylvania did this,” Coach Lyng said. “I’m just excited to get the ball rolling, to be a part of growing the sport here.”
Coach Lyng was drawn to the Lehigh Valley to help coach the growing women’s wrestling program at Lehigh University, where she also utilizes the facilities to continue training in her own senior wrestling career.
From the start, Coach Lyng has welcomed both new and experienced wrestlers to the girls team. For some girls, it is their first time wrestling on a high school team, and they are excited to learn more about the sport. On the other hand, the more seasoned wrestlers have ambitious goals for the season.
Junior Mai Graham has her eye on placing in the state tournament, while eighth-grader Emma Bauer, who practices with the team, feels empowered to defy the stereotype that wrestling is solely a boys’ sport.
“I think it’s important for people to realize that girls can be strong and defend themselves,” Bauer said.
In addition, wrestling parents are excited about the new opportunities the team will bring. Wrestling mom Jen Kiprisillis was a part of the process to get the varsity girls’ wrestling team approved by the school board. She and her daughter spoke before the school board, advocating for the new team.
“In the end, we got what we fought for, which is really cool to see. I am really proud to be a Southern Lehigh graduate,” Kiprisillis said. “And I thought that [girl’s wrestling] is the only thing that our school is missing.”
As the only girl on her high school wrestling team, Coach Lyng recognizes how intimidating that can be.
“Not all girls are up to it” she said, “and that’s sad because it kind of pushes people away or makes it harder for some people to then join the sport.”
Coach Lyng looks forward to providing a welcoming space for Southern Lehigh’s young women to try out the sport among other girls with the same interest.
“I think it’s good in the sense that now there’s more of a space for girls to feel comfortable,” she said. “We’re at least trying now, right?”
Girls’ wrestling hits the mats at Southern Lehigh
Girls wrestling team learns a new move during preseason practice.
About the Contributor
Gianna Cusumano, Co-Editor-in-Chief
Spotlight co-editor-in-chief Gianna Cusumano will graduate this May, leaving behind four years of dedicated involvement to the high school’s student newspaper. Throughout that time, she filled the roles of entertainment and features editor, and this year served as head of the website and social media. In each position, she embraced opportunities to express her passion for advocacy.
“Writing is such a big passion of mine, and giving people information and letting them make their own opinions is really important to me,” she said.
Cusumano first joined the Spotlight out of her general love for writing, which she’s always lived out through writing creative stories. Upon entering high school, she jumped at the chance to join a newspaper writing class in hopes of broadening her skills and finding a community of students with similar interests. Now, she feels that she’s gained all that and more, with fond memories ranging from former editor-in-chief Kishore Annambhotla spilling coffee grains across the publication lab to celebrating the editorial team’s first Best of SNO (School Newspapers Online) award.
“I definitely think the Spotlight has helped me grow as a person and as a writer. The aspect of getting to interview and talk to new people, especially people who have opinions and perspectives different from my own, has definitely made me more confident and outgoing,” Cusumano said. “It’s definitely made me realize I want to pursue journalism further, whether as a career or on my college’s paper.”
Cusumano is excited to pursue news writing further, even after leaving the Spotlight. While she majors in Politics and Public Policy at Lehigh University this coming fall, she will seek out ways to report current events on the side—hopefully through the college’s award winning student newspaper, The Brown and White. This will keep her plenty busy, as her studies are part of a pre-law program on a four-plus-one track, allowing her to earn both her bachelors and masters degrees by 2030.
Gianna is no stranger to hard work, though, as she’s been deeply involved in various activities throughout high school. Her greatest commitment, other than the Spotlight, has been participation in the Southern Lehigh swim team. She’s been part of one swim team or another since age eight, and finished out this year as a team captain. Looking back, she has fond memories from all four years with the group.
“It was really special when I was a freshman. I was swimming in one of our meets and I got a [personal record], and my whole team was beside the lane cheering me on,” she said. “It was really cool to get to celebrate that accomplishment with my team.”
Gianna is also a member of the high school’s National Honor Society and Athletic Leadership Council. Additionally, Cusumano took on the leadership role of co-president of Habitat for Humanity this year, a platform from which she was able to help address housing inequality in the area.
That issue has always been important to her, so much so that she confronted it in an article—one of her favorites among all those she’s written for the Spotlight. She was excited to cover such an impactful topic for her community, as well as explore reporting through different media types as she invited kids to illustrate their concepts of “home.” The piece she wrote was recognized by the National School Press Association’s Fred Ross Systemic Change Journalism Competition, earning it republication in local newspaper, The Morning Call.
“I was really excited to write about current events and inform people on things going on in the world,” she said. “It was really cool to learn more about my community and what was happening around it.”
Now, as she moves on from high school, Cusumano looks forward to a future in public policy, where she can employ skills gained from journalism for her community’s benefit.
“I definitely hope I still have that passion for advocacy, working on things I believe in,” she said. “I also really hope my love for writing stays with me, whether that be with journalism or some other form.”
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