This year is the official debut of the Lake Forest High School’s Girls Wrestling Team. IHSA only began offering girls wrestling as a state series in 2021, and although LFHS has had some individual girls who have competed, 2024 marks the first year that we have a true competing team.
The head coach of the team is Mr. Kevin Norman, who has previously worked as an assistant coach for the boys team and currently teaches at Deer Path Middle School. This is the first year that girls wrestling has had a coach specific to them, with five girls being on the team this year.
Norman and the boys head coach Mr. Nicholas Kramer, as well as the rest of the LFHS athletic department have worked hard to launch this team and set them up for success.
“We’re real excited about it, and we’ve made a full commitment to it. We got a new mat, uniforms, and leaderboard with the girls in mind,” said Assistant Athletic Director Mr. Craig Shaman. “These investments come with the fact that we are trying to get the girls team off the ground.”
Girls wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports and as of 2023, the number of girls wrestling teams in Illinois have doubled from 114 teams to 350. Although the sport is still somewhat developing, every school in the North Suburban Conference has a team, creating strong competition for this season.
On Tuesday Nov. 26, the team was successful at the New Trier Scramble. Sophomores Maribelle Dubouef and Caitlin Carnow, along with junior Bree Hirsch each pinned their opponents in the first period, proving great progress and success for the team!
“We’ve always had some girls in wrestling, but not a full lineup. I enjoy having more girls on the team because the sport is growing and we need more girls to represent,” said Hirsch.
Hirsch has been a part of the wrestling program for all three of her years at LFHS, and placed 4th place in conference last year to secure a spot in the sectional tournament.
For Duboeuf and Carnow, it is their first year on the team. However, that has not stopped them from quickly improving and catching up to their competition in order to be successful.
“Even though it’s been maybe a month, I have already improved so much, and I owe it to my coaches and the girls that practice with me everyday,” said Duboeuf.
Although this is the first year that LFHS has had an official team, there has been success with individual girls wrestlers in the past. 2022 graduate Naomi Miles was an exceptional all-state wrestler, and set a great example for girls wishing to pursue wrestling at LFHS. The wrestling program continues to grow stronger with even more success this year, especially for the girls team.
Similar to the boys wrestling teams, the girls typically have one dual meet a week against another team, and have invites on Saturdays.
“The community of LFHS wrestling isn’t only supportive and welcoming, but also hilarious and fun. I’ve looked forward to going to practice after every stressful school day, ever since I walked into the wrestling room for the first time,” said Carnow. “It’s almost like a ‘hidden gem’ that any girls or boys who might be interested, should just go for.”
The girls practice every day after school with the boys teams. Their practices are centered around weight classes, rather than sex, and aim to create stronger wrestlers for both the boys and girls teams.
“Unlike a lot of other sports, the boys and girls can work together, and despite being two different teams, they really have each other’s backs,” said Shaman.
The recent success speaks for how hard the girls team has been working, and how excited LFHS is to have our own team.
“The girls have been incredible, and some of them can really kick the boys’ butts too,” Shaman said.
