One day before the Oak Park-River Forest Invitational, Alyssa Hirshman received good news from Oak Park-River Forest freshman wrestling coach Donie Collins.
He discovered that there were enough girls entered in the tournament to create a separate division, so he called Hirshman with the news.
“It was cool,” Hirshman said. “It’s the first time I’ve wrestled girls from other schools.”
Hirshman and OPRF classmate Maeve Prudence are the only girls on one of the state’s top wrestling programs. The varsity Huskies have won the last two Class 3A state dual-team championships and are preparing to compete Saturday, Feb. 6 in the Glenbard West Regional.
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Before the season ended for Hirshman and Prudence Jan. 23 at the OPRF Invitational, the two freshmen wrestled other girls for the first time. Wrestlers from Riverside-Brookfield, Argo and Maine West filled out the seven-girl field.
Hirshman and Prudence said they didn’t know what to expect when they came out for the wrestling team at OPRF back in November.
“My mom told me (women’s wrestling) is an Olympic sport,” Prudence said. “I’ve watched videos about it. It’s cool. I’ve heard there are scholarships, too.”
Hirshman and Prudence didn’t have any previous experience when they came out for the Huskies. Hirshman (1-7) and Prudence (0-7) can count only one win between them, but they’ve used the season as a learning experience.
“I know me and Maeve have made a lot of progress from the beginning of the year,” Hirshman said.
Hirshman said she decided to try wrestling after hearing varsity coach Paul Collins speak last year. He visited Brooks Middle School when she was in eighth grade and offered an invitation to any student interested in coming out for the sport.
Hirshman was the only girl on the freshman team in the preseason, but later was joined by Prudence and they became workout partners.
“I heard Alyssa was wrestling,” Prudence said. “She’s a close friend. I joined her because I wanted to get in good shape. I love it so much.”
Prudence said she has played lacrosse and soccer, but was looking to make a change. She likely go out for soccer in the spring.
At the OPRF Invitational, Hirshman went 0-2 in the three-wrestler Woman A bracket. Riverside-Brookfield’s Aliyah Lazano pinned Hirshman in 2 minutes, 12 seconds and Julitza Cortez of R-B, who was crowned champion, pinned Hirshman in 2:46.
In the Woman B bracket, Prudence went 0-4 and was pinned by champion Kyle Ciombor of R-B in 52 seconds.
Twitter @geomwilcox