Savannah and Sienna Boden sparred at a recent practice in the wrestling room at Gateway’s Furrie Sports Complex.
Just a few feet away, names of their father, Rich, and uncles Dan and Jim, are embossed on the wall with accomplishments as Gators competitors more than two decades ago.
They both hope to carry their family’s Gateway wrestling legacy, which also has included older brother, Troy, while energized to keep building the new Gators girls wrestling program that is making strides in its first year.
“When I was younger, I never wrestled because I am a girl,” said Savannah, a junior.
“But when I got older, I wanted to do it. My dad did it, and my uncles, too. Even though I hadn’t been competing, wrestling has been with me for so long. I have been watching the (boys) high school team since Troy was doing it, and I have learned so much.”
With the blessing of athletic director Don Holl and others, Savannah, freshman Rikkia Chase, and a few other team members started a drive to generate interest in the school for a girls program. Of the initial list of those who showed interest, 11 started the season. Ten currently are on the roster.
It’s been a journey of growth and discovery since then, one Savannah and her teammates hope is a foundation for future success.
“I think it will be really cool to look back to this year and see all that we accomplished,” Savannah said.
“I am proud to know that we are the ones who got it all together and help start something pretty cool.”
Gateway immediately was eligible for the WPIAL individual championships which have a 9 a.m. start Saturday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Six Gators will be in action: sophomore Ilbannys Ferrer (1-4 at 100), Savannah Boden (5-1 at 112), freshman Marlee Davis (3-2 at 118), freshman Rikia Chase (4-2 at 124), Sienna Boden (4-1 at 130) and sophomore Raquel Anderson (4-2 at 142).
“I am very passionate about this sport, and I want to go far,” said Chase, who began wrestling last year.
“I was happy to be able to help work with the new girls. We have come a long way this year. We are really excited for WPIALs.”
Gateway is not yet a varsity sport sanctioned by the school district.
It is, however, a club team that is permitted to use the practice room in the Furrie Sports Complex. Things like transportation to and from matches are up to the coaches or families of the wrestlers.
“The boys team gave us singlets, headgear and sweatsuits. They have been amazing with their support, including instruction on technique and how to approach a match,” Gateway coach Emma Whelan said.
Whelan said the interest in the program could soon lead to school sanctioning.
“That interest was a good sign,” she said. “We almost have a full roster of weight classes. We are doing so well, and the community has a really good program going with the (Junior Olympics) and girls also in the junior high program. It is definitely building. Savannah was really pushing and leading the charge to start the program. She came to me with a lot of excitement and ideas for the program.
“They all just wanted to get into it. Rikkia was the only one who wrestled in a competition setting prior to this. The Bodens just wrestled with their brothers and dad in the basement. The expectations were to see what we could do and get it out there more and hopefully get more girls involved.”
With the team made up entirely of underclassmen, all are eligible to keep wrestling as the program transitions into the offseason in preparation for next year.
Whelan, who teaches math in the Gateway School District, graduated from Springdale. She kept wrestling stats while watching her brother compete. A cousin of the Bodens, Whelan played soccer at Springdale before attending college at North Carolina Wilmington.
“We didn’t have girls wrestling when I was (in high school),” she said. “If we had it, I probably would’ve done it. I am used to coaching, but coaching a sport I was unfamiliar with was a whole new thing. I am learning so much while helping mentor these girls.
“I’ve learned that the whole wrestling program is so family oriented with the interest from the dads and the brothers, and now the girls have a place to come and do it.”
Whelan gives a great deal of credit to assistant coach Caleb Lehman, a 2018 Gateway graduate who won 53 matches during his four-year career with the Gators before enjoying a collegiate baseball career at Chatham.
Lehman also coaches the junior high boys wrestling team and often does double duty on practice days.
“He does a lot of the wrestling aspect of the team, and I handle the girl aspect and the parent aspect while also being in the school,” Whelan said.
Lehman said he is impressed with the strides the girls have made in this first season and knows the future is bright.
“Girls are more attentive in wrestling,” Lehman said.
“They are very detail oriented. They want to explain everything and they want to understand. It makes me better as a coach because of what they want from me. I have to have an answer for a lot of things as it relates to why they need to be here or there or what they need to do to win a match. I often send wrestling clips in the team Snap with the parents. It’s like, ‘Hey, we practiced this today, and it works. This guy just did it here.’ It is so helpful for them to learn by watching and then doing.”
Gateway has wrestled just dual matches this season as it works to develop a year-to-year schedule. The Gators faced the likes of Franklin Regional, Fox Chapel, Shaler and Kiski Area while picking up victories against Elizabeth Forward, Penn Hills and Woodland Hills.
“Shaler is a mature program that has been around for a while,” Whelan said.
“It is great for the girls to wrestle girls from these established programs like Fox Chapel and Kiski. It was good for the girls to see that and strive to get to that. Win or lose, the girls have benefited so much from those matches. It’s cool to see what we can become.”