Neligh-Oakdale's Wilkinson Proves Girls Can Wrestle

During the winter months, many high school girls are perfecting their craft on the court on training for the upcoming track and softball seasons. However, for the past three years, Calli Wilkinson decided she was going to do something atypical with her winter season.

Since her freshman year, Wilkinson, who is the daughter of Justin and Carla Wilkinson of Neligh, has competed in wrestling for Neligh-Oakdale. While many of her friends decided to head to the basketball court for the season, she decided to make her mark on the mat.

“I had a lot of family in South Carolina that wrestled, so it was kind of a part of my life already,” she explained. “I just love the sport and I love watching it so I thought ‘Why not try it?’”

So far, that decision has led the Neligh-Oakdale junior 106 pounder to seven wins in her career in varsity meets, not including byes, with more wins coming in freshman and junior varsity meets. In her freshman season, she made history when she earned a victory at the Warriors’ first meet of the year when she pinned Ansley-Litchfield’s Ronnie Bay in just 43 seconds. That win marked the first time in schools history a female wrestler won a varsity match.

Wilkinson comes from a very strong wrestling family. Her cousin Kyle Wilkinson was a state-qualifier for the Warriors and Cameron Wilkinson is prepared to make his second trip to the state meet this week at 106 pounds. Her brother, Cade, also wrestles for the Warriors at 138 pounds. With that many strong wrestlers in her family, it’s certainly a given that family gatherings can get a bit rough.

“On holidays, we’d always get together and we’d all wrestle around the room, not really anything formal,” she recalled. 

Being a girl in a physical, male-dominated sport like wrestling can certainly be a challenge, but Wilkinson feels like she is only at an advantage.

“I think it makes (the boys) a little more nervous for wrestling, so they are thinking way too hard. That evens it out a little bit,” she said. 

While Wilkinson currently represents a small portion of wrestlers, the presence of females in wrestling is a fast growing trend. In an attempt to promote the growth of women’s wrestling, USA Wrestling recently declared the week of February 10-19 as Women’s Wrestling Week. Many universities already offer women’s wrestling at a varsity level. Closer to home, even the Nebraska School Activities Association is looking to expand the sport. 

In a recent study by the NSAA, 91 percent of schools were interested in setting up a girls-only tournament. Of the 192 schools with varsity wrestling in the state, more than half have a girl either on their roster or that has expressed interest in wrestling. High Plains Community even hosted the first girls-only bracket earlier this season, a tournament in which Wilkinson finished second, including a pin fall victory over Marrisa Burt of Tekamah-Herman. 

The growth of girls-only wrestling and the potential for a girls division is something that Wilkinson fully supports.

“I think that would be a really neat opportunity,” she said. “It would even out the playing field. I know there is a controversy on girls wrestling guys and girls wrestling girls. I think girls wrestling girls would be very popular. I think a lot of girls are holding back right now from trying it but if a girls division opened up, I think there would be a lot more popularity and they would be a lot more open to it.”

While any NSAA-sanctioned girls state tournament likely won’t happen before Wilkinson graduates next year, she is hopeful that her experience will give young girls the motivation to try the sport and compete in any potential women’s division. She truly appreciates being able to inspire the young girls of the area. 

“A lot of the younger girls in the junior wrestling club have come up and talked to me about (wrestling),” Wilkinson said with a smile. “I love the fact that it is getting more popular there.”

With just one year left in high school, Wilkinson’s goal before she graduates is no different than any other wrestler, boy or girl.

“My goal is to qualify for state,” she said.

If she were to qualify for state, she would join the likes of Logan View’s Hailey Schiermeyer, who has now qualified twice for the state meet, including this year at 113 pounds. Wilkinson would be considered a pioneer in the sport of girls wrestling, if she isn’t already considered one locally. 

That is what motivates her to give it all on the mat.