With 21 athletic teams here at Green Hope, the newest addition to the Green Hope Athletic Program, women’s wrestling, has proven to be on top. Beginning their winning streak this winter season, the team competed in regionals on Feb. 10 with three of the athletes placing in the top four. The wrestlers then moved on to the 4A NCHSAA State Championships on Feb. 17 this past weekend, where Emily Jenkins (’25) placed sixth place in the 107-lb division, taking the win in cons. rounds one, two and three.
Coach George Jenkins led the five players fiercely throughout their season as they strived toward their goals. In an interview with the GH Falcon, DeAnna Fox (’26), a women’s wrestling team member, shed some light on how it is to be a part of the team. Fox said, “My experience this season has been great. It is tiring but it is fun to win a match and be on top of everything.” Fox explained how she came to join the wrestling team last year, “I started wrestling because ever since a young age I have been doing a lot of martial arts and when the wrestling season came around freshman year I thought it would be a great opportunity to be active.”
In response to becoming a part of the first-ever Green Hope women’s wrestling team, Fox commented, “It’s great, I love it, I feel empowered when I finally see that women are being represented and participating in highly aggressive sports and especially in a more male-dominated area.” Fox also shared her wishes for the team in upcoming years, “We need to expand the team, we need way more ladies out there because we are such a small group as is, [and] it would be great to have a bigger team.”
Deanna Fox placed second at regionals and walked us through her mindset before facing last year’s state champion in her final match, “Leading up to the final match everything was easy, I felt confident. I was put up against the state champion from last year and she is tough.” Even though Fox didn’t place number one, she still expressed how exciting it was to make it so far in the competition and how happy she was with her performance.
Emily Jenkins placed third in regionals and swooped a sixth-place win at states. “I was really happy that I placed sixth because I had to wrestle six girls and I actually had a concussion in my last match. I couldn’t really think and I honestly didn’t know where I was,” Jenkins explains. When asked about her overall experience this season, Jenkins says, “It’s been really fun and a great experience overall. This season was a lot better than last season, and I’ve been able to see how I’ve improved as an athlete.” She expressed how happy she was to be a part of the first women’s wrestling team at Green Hope, and hopes to see the team grow in the coming years. “It’s been nice to see more girls trying out for wrestling and it would be great to have a full team next year. I think all girls should try wrestling at least once in their life.”
Jenkins is proud to be a member of the wrestling team and touched on her history with wrestling. “I got into wrestling because my dad wrestled in high school. I started my wrestling journey back in elementary school but had to take a break in the middle. I restarted my wrestling career my sophomore year here at Green Hope, and have been loving it ever since.”
Both Jenkins and Fox are excited to wrap up the season strong and look forward to their next season on the team!
