History happened this season at Woodward High School. This year, they launched their girls wrestling team, which is led by head coach Natasha Turner. While they are a young team, Turner is excited about the opportunity to lead this new team.
“This is the very first wrestling team for girls at our high school and junior high,” Turner stated proudly. “The entire roster has 18 girls. We are a very young group with only two tenth graders and the rest of the team is made up of freshmen and junior high girls.”
Turner says that leading this new program is something that is special to her.
“It means a lot to me to be able to lead this girls program,” she said. “I have coached the majority of these athletes since they were five years old in tumbling and competitive cheer. Jared Weatherhead reached out to me last year and asked if I wanted to take on a girls wrestling program. I am thankful he asked me. Being part of my alumni school and seeing what these girls can do on the mat is impressive. Jared and Shane Delong help coach the girls as well. These girls are the first team in history and to be a part of that is an accomplishment itself. They show up every day and commit. They are all a young team so by time they get to be juniors and seniors they will be a force to deal with.”
Freshman Kaylee Jones is a motivator that cheers on her whole team. She’s the alpha that holds everyone together and always says ‘yes you can’. She dominated her first tournament and made it to the semi-finals.
Another freshman to keep an eye on is Reyna Baeza, who was 14-2 in junior high. She has qualified for junior high state and placed. She is also in club wrestling. She started wrestling at a young age and that experience shows when she is on the mat.
The other members of the team that are excited to be the foundation of the program are sophomores McKenzie Altaramono and Edie Parrish, along with freshmen Sophia Beaza, Abagail Sackett, Zoe Bell, and Kinzlee Hickman.
