LANSING, Mich. — Clara Holtry spent much of her high school career on the wrestling mat, and now, she'll be doing the same for Alma College.
Holtry was the second female in program history to compete at the state competition, and she will be the first to perform at the collegiate level.
"I'm just excited to meet people with different experiences, even though it probably will be similar. If you're a girl wrestler, then like that already put you in a little bit of a group," said Holtry.
Holt girls wrestling has grown exponentially in the last year. The team had 14 female wrestlers, making it one of the largest female programs in the state.
Stan Granger wrestled for Holt, and now, he is taking part in program history as a head coach.
"We'll build, having the kids we had this year coming back next year, that will just be like okay, we know what we need to do now. Where this year is was kind of like what are we doing, and it wasn't just the girls," said Granger.
Granger says Holtry was an integral part of the girls program and often times the checks and balances between the boys and girls programs.
"She's a perfect example of if you want something, you can get it, and that's been our motto here in the wrestling room," said Granger.
For Holtry and Granger, the hope is that these commitments become the new normal.
Holtry told me, as she walked over to our interview, she thought about what it meant to be the first female wrestler from Holt to commit to a college. She said she doesn't care about the individual accomplishment but instead the growth of girls wrestling as a whole.
"I told all of my girls after I left that like when I come back, I would love to see them have to wrestle all for their spots, like I didn't have to do that nobody really had to do that this year for the girls. But, I would love to have some many girls that [they've] got to wrestle to see who gets to actually compete in duals, just like the boys do," said Holtry.
However, the main event for Holtry now is starting over at Alma.
"I'll be a freshman again, so I'll be the one coming in and needing to know where the locker rooms are located and which showers are the better showers," said Holtry.
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