Susie Levitt vs Clair Dupone; All American Games 2003

Susie Levitt, 18, of Danbury, Conn., was ranked No. 4 by the United States Girls Wrestling Association for the 2004 season. As women's wrestling gains momentum (it became an Olympic event last summer), Levitt explains why she hopes more girls will give the sport a chance..

My older brother was an All-American wrestler, and my dad became a wrestling zealot and started an elementary league. My sister and I were the only girls on the team. When I was 7, I beat every boy in the league in my weight class.

I didn't get to wrestle again until high school—I was the only girl on a team full of state champions. By then, the boys were all stronger. I have a lot of muscle, but the boys are naturally faster. In practice, I'd have to push myself as hard as I could just to keep up.

During practice my sophomore year, the team captain said to me—in front of everyone, “Why do you wrestle? You suck.” I went to the bathroom and cried. He didn't understand that I'm really good against girls, but I'm practicing with all guys and can't compete fairly. Still, a lot of guys have refused to wrestle me because they're afraid of losing. (And a few have cried when they did lose.) That's why I'm hoping more girls will come out for wrestling, so we don't have to be matched with guys. It's actually a lot harder to wrestle other girls, because we're flexible and can do lots of moves guys can't.

At first, everyone thought I was out there just to be with the boys. But I proved I was serious. I love wrestling because I'm competitive. It's a team sport, but you compete individually. And it's a great workout. People are shocked when I tell them I wrestle, because I'm so girly: I wear makeup, have long hair and curves. It shows that you don't have to be a tomboy or weird. You can just be a regular girl who wants to wrestle.

—As told to "Fresh Voices" contributor Marisa Kula

Bonus Article:

In this week's "Fresh Voices," Susie Levitt, 18, discusses why she loves wrestling and encourages other girls to give the sport a try. Below are a few facts about girls' wrestling and some online resources to learn more about this growing phenomenon:

• About 4000 girls wrestle at the high school level in the U.S. (compared to 239,000 boys), according to the USA Wrestling Association.

• High school girls' wrestling has only been sanctioned in two states: Hawaii and Texas (both since 1999).

• Until girls' wrestling teams are numerous enough to get state sanctioning, girls have to compete at informal divisions or meets instead of state tournaments—or compete against boys. In 2005, there were 17 girls who qualified for boys' high school state tournaments around the country, and six of those girls placed.

United States Girl's Wrestling Association (USGWA)
Visit the USGWA's Web site to find tournaments, see rankings and join a discussion forum.