Girls Wrestling is a new program that was added to Northern Valley Demarest athletics, and Casey Davis, a sophomore, is a key part of the team. She is recognized as a major threat to her other competitors and has won several tournaments throughout the season. She continues to practice with her coaches, who have helped improve her skills.

Davis has made a name for herself while participating in various tournaments and successfully performing in the overall rankings.

 “My greatest accomplishments of this season were placing third in the Elizabeth girl’s tournament, second in the girls Bloomfield tournament, and pinning a boy in the JV, who was 106lb, when I only weighed 100 lbs,” Davis said.

As a freshman, Davis always looked up to her brother, who was also a wrestler and wanted to play a sport in high school that she enjoyed, but didn’t have a lot of experience with. 

“My brother Kyle started wrestling before me and I always wanted to try it out, but my parents wouldn’t allow me because it was seen as a boy’s sport. I would always just go and watch the practices and tournaments he participated in,” Davis said. “In 6th grade, I saw other girls wrestle, and that’s when my parents let me join a rec team. I started doing it for fun and then decided to join the high school wrestling team this year.”

The high school coaches have developed Davis into a stronger athlete with more experience. She has grown and has achieved many of her goals. 

“I am in the place I am now because of my coaches pushing me. The work I’ve put in over the off-season going to the summer duals and practices. Now I’m currently 13-3 against girls in tournaments, including versing the girls JV in dual matches,” Davis said.

Although she has been putting in a lot of work, Davis experiences challenges this season, especially because Girl’s Wrestling is so new.

“Most of the boys I go against are stronger than me, so I’ve had to change the way I wrestle when I go against a boy compared to my girl’s matches,” Davis said.

As the season comes to an end, Davis wishes to participate in other tournaments and make it far in those matches.

“My goal for the rest of my sophomore season is to probably take the top 4 in the girl’s north region tournament and to qualify for the state championship at the end of February,” Davis said.

Davis’s expectations are high because she is passionate, and a challenging match or difficult practice motivates her to do better.

“It feels really good to win and get your hand raised, knowing that all of the work I put in paid off. Even when I wanted to give up, I had realized that the hard practices were worth it, which pushes me to keep working harder to beat my opponents,” Davis said.

Davis wants to stick with this sport in the future and looks forward to her final years on the team.

“I would like to see myself wrestling when I’m older in college. If I end up becoming good enough, I think it will help me with other sports because of the conditioning and the hard training,” Davis said.

Northern Valley Girls Wrestling is a growing program and Davis recommends that more girls should explore this male-dominated sport.

“I think other girls who want to try wrestling should do it because it is such a growing sport and no one would be behind in skill level. It’s important to take a risk, even if they are hesitant because it might turn into something they love,” Davis said.