Jeffrey Eisenband
After centuries of arduous studies and massive digs, historians and archaeologists have arrived at the conclusion that modern freestyle wrestling first appeared in ancient Greece during the eighth century B.C. It was in this decade that Homer incorporated wrestling into the “Iliad”; and evidence shows that the eighteenth Olympiad (704 B.C.) featured the sport. It was also during this time period that the bellicose Spartans used wrestling to test the physicality of its warriors, labeling it with the masculine personality that the sport still boasts today.
Angela Lagrossa ’11 must have been absent for that sixth grade social studies lesson. As Lagrossa’s cross country season came to a close in the fall, leaving her sport-less for the winter, Lagrossa innocently strolled by the athletic office one day after school.
“I happened to walk by when the interest meeting was ending,” Lagrossa said. “My friend Andres [Pedraza] came over to say ‘hi’ and somehow, our conversation turned to wrestling. He said that I should try it out, and I just thought, ‘What the heck? Why not?’”
Pedraza ’11 said, “I told her to go and talk to [Coach] Mr. Vitti and ask him for the paperwork that he gave to everybody at the meeting. When she came back, I noticed that she was very excited.”
From that point on, there was absolutely no looking back in Lagrossa’s historic wrestling career. Lagrossa was thrust into the same gut-wrenching workouts that even the most potent of MHS’s wrestlers are forced to endure. While each of Lagrossa’s teammates and coaches hoped that she would be able to make it through the vigorous preseason, most agreed that reality would eventually overtake optimism. However, if Lagrossa was to follow the status quo, she never would have started wrestling in the first place.
“We work our kids hard, and we weren’t going to make her an exception,” Assistant Coach Andre Corrales said. “We all kept waiting for her to give up, but she never did. Every time she went down, she got back up. That is one tough girl.”
Pedraza agreed with Corrales. “After five years of wrestling, I can strongly say that wrestling is not for everyone,” he said. “I have seen many people quit after the first few practices. However, Angela stuck it out and has been working hard ever since.”
After beginning her wrestling career with three tough losses as a member of the junior varsity (JV) team, the fickle finger of fate finally pointed to Lagrossa on the eve of Dec. 11. The JV team had already seen their fan base grow exponentially with the addition of Lagrossa to the squad, and the crowd in the Hommocks Gym for the team’s home tourney proved to be no exception.
Lagrossa’s match with Mount Saint Michael’s Joe Graham teetered back and forth during the first two periods, but in the third period, Lagrossa began to feed off of the enthusiastic crowd. As Lagrossa began to gain the offensive on Graham, the passion of the audience made the match seem more like a Big Ten NCAA match, rather than a JV bout. In a monumental occurrence, Lagrossa pinned Graham to the mat, marking the first ever victory by a female wrestler in MHS history.
“When I stuck the pin, the room went wild, my brain froze, and I thought ‘holy cow!’” Lagrossa said. “People came out of nowhere and hugged me. I didn’t really react until I got into the hallway, but then I was jumping off the walls. It was the best night of my life.”
For Lagrossa, not every wrestling experience has been so luminous, though. Over the course of the winter, she has overheard multiple opposing coaches complain over the fact that she lacks a Y-chromosome. “It’s understandable how some opponents react,” Lagrossa said. “They see me and they think there’s this whole lose-lose situation. If you lose, you’re a wimp, but if you win, you’re a jerk.”
The worst of these incidents occurred in an away match against Scarsdale, moments after the MHS varsity team had suffered a hard-fought defeat in the hands of the rival Raiders.
“I was frustrated at varsity’s loss and I wanted to direct this feeling into my match,” Lagrossa said. However, none of Scarsdale’s JV boys in Lagrossa’s weight class had the decency to wrestle her, whining about her being a female. “I thought I was going to have a match since there were going to be nine JV matches, but nope. Denied.”
In frustration, Lagrossa trotted out of the gym to calm herself by doing push-ups, as well as running up and down stairs. “When I came back, I stared them all down,” Lagrossa said. “Looking back, it was a little bit immature, but at least I didn’t do anything stupid.”
Luckily, unlike Scarsdale, Lagrossa’s teammates have accepted her with open arms and her coaches treat her like any other member of the team. “I’m happy to say that I have received more acceptance than I expected,” Lagrossa said. “There is no one who strongly opposes me on the team, and at most matches, there has been a general sense of respect towards me.”
For most of Lagrossa’s teammates and coaches, this is not the first time that they have crossed paths with a female wrestler. Sophie Veiras, an ex-Dobbs Ferry wrestler and now a college student, attends MHS practices and participates in their vigorous workouts. “[Sophie] comes to many practices and has helped me improve and get more comfortable with the sport,” Lagrossa said.
Lagrossa’s rookie wrestling season has been defined by her love of the sport and her exceptionally grueling work ethic. “She comes to practice with a desire to learn to find new ways to improve,” Pedraza said. “Angela is a dedicated athlete and I’m sure her hard work will soon pay off. She has already told me that she loves wrestling.”
Lagrossa does indeed have a genuine adoration for wrestling. “I like how it’s as much of an individual sport as it is a team sport. We are all a family and support each other, but once you get on the mat it’s up to only you to win,” she said. “It’s tough physically, mentally and emotionally, and I love it.”
When Lagrossa says that wrestling is tough, she really means it. Wrestling a boy, as a girl, is not as easy as it may sound. “No matter what anybody says, boys have a muscle advantage,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many times during a match I’ve wished that I was a boy.”
Whether she comes out of an event victoriously or entrenched in defeat, each match serves as another inch of progress for Lagrossa and female wrestling. Even after all of the history that the female wrestling pioneer has made within her first few months in the sport, Lagrossa does not see her wrestling trail being cut short any time soon. “I swear if I don’t go to a college with a wrestling team, club or anything, I’m gonna make one myself!”
Lagrossa’s heroic qualities should be an inspiration to all female athletes participating, or yearning to participate, in male sports in high schools across the nation.
Said Corrales about Lagrossa’s toughness, “She could beat the living hell out of you, Jeffrey!”
