In just three seasons, the girls wrestling program at MCHS has gone from an emerging idea into a story of grit, growth and possibility.
It began during the 2023-24 school year when only a handful of determined wrestlers took a chance at something new, and now in 2025-26, the program stands as part of a statewide surge redefining sports for young women.
“My first year here at McHenry, I was a JV boys wrestling coach,” says Head Girls Wrestling Coach James Buss, who has been coaching wrestling for more than 10 years and is now in his fourth year leading the girls’ program.
“We had three girls that were awesome,” he added. “We didn’t have this set program in place, so my job was to take our girls to certain girls-only events to get them competition. We only went to three competitions that year, including our sectional and state tournament. so I wanted to make sure that they were gonna have opportunities to compete in the following year. We pushed to start a girls program, and I really enjoyed the fact that our girls really came together and wanted to make that happen.”
Across Illinois, entries into the girls state wrestling series jumped from 180 schools in 2022 to 356 in 2024. Nationally, girls wrestling participation surged past 74,000 in 2024-25, a 15 percent increase from the previous year, and nearly 1,000 additional schools sponsoring girls wrestling.
At MCHS, the growth is more than numbers. It involves a changing of mindsets.
“We’re getting nontraditional athletes,” Buss says. “We’re not getting the average volleyball player, basketball player or softball player. We’re getting kids that haven’t really played sports before in their life and they’re finding their new home in girls’ wrestling. It gives them an opportunity to feel like they’re welcome and they’re able to succeed in a sport.”
For senior wrestler Natalie Corona, the journey has been as much of an internal competition as it has been a competition against others.
“It was definitely eye-opening,” Corona said. “ All of the sports I’ve played were all-girls teams. So, just being in this environment was a change of scenery, and I liked the challenge it gave me.”
The path towards this extreme growth in popularity hasn’t always been smooth, as athletic director Chris Madson stated, “Despite all the progress, there are still challenges. Access to equal resources and opportunities is always on my mind. I want to ensure that female athletes receive the same recognition, media coverage and developmental opportunities as their male counterparts.”
One of the program’s biggest challenges remains the public’s perception. “Wrestling has always been seen as a male sport,” Buss said. “We just added women’s wrestling into the Olympics in 2004. So, trying to get girls to come out and wrestle is a lot more challenging. Their parents and grandparents didn’t wrestle, and sometimes there’s a ‘taboo’ feeling about girls wrestling because people think they’re going to wrestle against boys.”
Although the obstacles have been tough, the rewards these female athletes obtain from this experience make the struggle worth it.
“I was going against boys,” Corona says. “In the beginning, I was getting my butt kicked pretty bad. Throughout the season, I just kept putting in practice, I kept training, i kept putting in the work. I would practice, go to club practice, go on runs and I just fell in love with that process. I’m really proud of myself for continuing that and then eventually placing at state.”
For Buss, the greatest reward he has earned is seeing the impact he has on female wrestlers beyond the wins.
“It really hits home when you see someone that has been through the program and say, ‘Oh, this has made a difference,’” Buss says. “You see it in a person, someone who’s never done anything in middle school or high school and now they are playing their first sport ever. They tell one of their friends to join and it makes me feel like we made an impact.”
As the Warriors gear up for the 2025-26 season, they’re carrying more than their gear bags. They carry the proof of possibility, what happens when belief meets mat time, when a program takes root and when girls decide they belong on the mat just as much as anyone else.