Submitted Story
Girl’s wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports in the country. Fremont Ross is very excited to have girls wrestling this year! Girl’s wrestling is semi-sanctioned in the State of Ohio, girls are considered OHSAA athletes and follow all the rules that the boys follow. This year will be the 3rd year for a Girls State Wrestling Tournament, and we have high hopes that Ohio will be voting soon to completely sanction the sport for ladies! As of right now, there are 787 girls registered on teams in Ohio.
Starting girls wrestling has been in the making for a few years, and has come with support from many, including AD Chad Berndt. The Long & Hetrick families are glad to be a part of Fremont & Ohio history!
For the Long’s:
Chad had a great wrestling career at Clyde High school. Jen couldn’t wrestle (because she was a girl) but enjoyed watching her brother wrestle in biddy all through high school. Jen married her younger brothers’ football & wrestling coach! Chad was the head Coach at both Tiffin Columbian and Fremont Ross, and they have been a part of the Wrestling family in both communities. When they had children, they started wrestling at an early age. Chad & Jen realized that girls wrestling was needed, their 3 oldest are girls, the older 2 wrestle on the Middle School team and the younger 2 wrestle for Headstrong.
For the Hetrick’s:
Chad began coaching with his cousin, Mike Mezinger, when their son was 3 years old. There was not a local biddy wrestling team, so they started Fremont Wrestling Club. Later, Chad decided to branch off and began Headstrong Wrestling Club with his wife Stephanie. Wrestling has always been a huge part of their lives. With traveling every weekend to tournaments with the same families from our teams, your wrestling family really becomes a huge part of your lives. After seeing the growing interest in girls wrestling, Chad and Stephanie knew they had to be a part of this!
A lot of our girls that are wrestling had Dads, brothers and Uncles that wrestled, so they’ve grown up around wrestling and are excited for their chance on the mats!
2021-22 Girls HS Wrestling Team Back: Coach Chad Hetrick, Coach Stephanie Hetrick, Coach Brooke Scully, Xsaria Puente, Elizabeth Stratton, Coach Jen Long, Coach Chad Long Front: Ava Thomas, Samantha Alejo-Hernandez, Esmeralda Guitterez & Emma Guitterez