BRAINERD — The Minnesota State High School League officially sanctioned girls wrestling to begin the 2021-22 school year.
Since then, the number of participants in the sport has nearly doubled every year, but Ari Pickar from Brainerd has been competing in wrestling since long before the state's recognition.
She started in first grade after watching her older brothers compete. Her father was also a wrestler in high school and college.
Now an eighth grader at Forestview Middle School, Ari recently won the section title for her weight class and will head to the Minnesota State Wrestling Tournament, happening Saturday, March 1, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
Ari and her coach, Layne Danielson, were recent guests on the KAXE Morning Show.
Danielson explained that wrestling is not for everybody.
“It's an extremely physical sport, and we do work hard, and there are times where their heads are hung and they're kind of defeated, they're tired," he said. " ... And then they pick each other up.”
Ari’s love for wrestling came through in our interview.
“It's competitive and it's hard and you can't really blame anybody else, 'cause [it's an] individual sport," she said. "And so when you come off the mat, you can't blame your team then, so then you have to work harder in practice.”
Find full details about the state wrestling tournament in the MSHSL’s spectator guide.
