History Was Made

Friday, February 21 marked a historic milestone for Army and Collegiate Women’s Wrestling. Though still in the process of petitioning for official club status at West Point, the Army Women’s Wrestling team traveled to the Coast Guard Academy for a Friday night dual under the lights.

This would be the first ever dual meet for Army and the first home event for the young Coast Guard team.   USCGA had visited USMA for a joint practice this fall.Firstie (Senior) Ava Purifoy and Plebes (Freshmen) Katelyn Guth and Lorelai Megery have worked extremely hard in the past few months to get the program on its feet.

“The men's coaching staff has been very supportive of everything we are trying to do on the women’s side – but ultimately, it’s been up to us to make things happen,” says Guth. “It’s been like a part time job these past few weeks trying to coordinate approval to leave post, check out a vehicle from DCA for transportation, and locate an OIC who could travel with us. Especially since no one has ever really tried to do anything like this before – we’re kind of writing the precedent as we go,” she explains. 

The girls were fortunate enough to be led by LTC Vijay Navarro who is a Spanish Instructor at West Point.  The team’s inaugural trip proved successful as seven female wrestlers, six from USMA and one from USMAPS, stepped on the mat to make history for Army Women's Wrestling in Billard Gymnasium at the Coast Guard Academy. Two of the seven wrestled their first matches ever and all put on an exciting show for the CGA student section who showed up big to support the Women’s programs. Congrats ladies, keep working hard!