Photo by David B. Hardt
FAITH WASMUND IS ONE OF A NEW BREED OF FEMALE WRESTLERS.
When Fife Trojan Faith Wasmund was a sophomore she wandered upstairs into the wrestling room where she saw the team practicing. She was intrigued and thought it was cool. She talked to head coach Shawn Gaspaire about being part of the team.
“I looked in the gym and I saw the team doing laps,” Wasmund said. “I said hey, cute head gear and shoes, and it looks fun, so I told coach I would come back next year.”
Nationwide, about 6,000 high school girls wrestled last year, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations, nearly five times as many as a decade earlier.
Now Wasmund is no longer watching, but leading the way as top Fife girl wrestler. She knows that being a girl wrestler comes with the boys being skeptical.
“A lot of guys don’t believe in it, because they don’t think the girls are that tough, but we are tough in our own way,” Wasmund said. “When it comes down to it, in a girl’s world, if you’re good you’re good.”
Wasmund knows that being the senior she must lead by example for the other handful of girls on the team.
“I just like to be inspirational and push my team to be the best that they can be.”
When asked about goals when she graduates, Wasmund smiled and responded:
“I would love to be a mixed martial arts fighter, however my goal right now is to gradate and move on to college wrestling.”
Standing close by watching was Wasmund’s stepmother Erica.
“It brings a lot of pride to see her out there. It is fun to see her out there competing with boys. At home the only thing she talks about is wrestling. Her dad was a little nervous about her wrestling boys, but he is okay with it.”
Gaspaire sees Wasmund as a leader.
“She brings leadership and she is always checking up on the girls. She is very valuable to the team. She is really committed to everything she does.”
Commenting rules
Fife Free Press is happy to provide a forum for commenting and discussion. Please respect and abide by the house rules:
Keep it clean, keep it civil, keep it truthful, stay on topic, be responsible, share your knowledge, and please suggest removal of comments that violate these standards.
Read full commenting rules