Girls’ wrestling is one of the fastest-growing sports at HPHS. The program has had massive success these past few years, sending alumna Clara Ugaz to the state in 2023 and 2024. More recently, in a CSL tournament at Niles North, the team had a number of triumphs. The team had first-place wins led by freshman Lexie Hoobler, junior Lexi Rosenthal, and Destiny Cardona. In addition, the team secured a second-place finish from junior Riley Moore and a third-place finish by senior Dorothy Perez in their respective weight classes.
The girls’ team continued their successful season this weekend in regionals at Grayslake Central High School, part of the IHSA state series. Overall, the team placed an impressive 12th out of 29 teams. Individually, Rosenthal and Hoobler both qualified for the next round in the state tournament. Hoobler placed third in her weight class, and Rosenthal placed second, marking the second year that she has qualified for sectionals. They will both compete next week on February 13th at Phillips High School in Chicago in the sectional meet, only one tournament away from state.
For the remainder of the season, Coach Paul Hartung, who has coached wrestling for twenty years, shared the team’s priority.
“Our team’s focus is getting one percent better each day and providing total support for our wrestlers in the state series.”
When Coach Hartung first started coaching, there were only one or two girls on the roster. Since then, the girls’ wrestling program has largely grown, not only at Highland Park but throughout the country. Current Junior Riley Moore, who has been part of the wrestling program since she was a freshman, shares what inspired her to do wrestling.
“I grew up around wrestling my whole life,” Moore said. “My dad wrestled, my brother wrestled, and my uncle Mike Powell was also an incredible wrestler and is now a very well-known coach.”
Moore is further inspired by her teammates, who largely contribute to her love of the sport.
“My favorite wrestling memory was my freshman year when Clara Ugaz qualified for state — the first ever woman at Highland Park to do it,” Moore said. “Not only watching her and all the other girls compete was incredibly inspiring, but getting to go with and stay in a hotel with the rest of the team was really fun.”
This moment inspired Moore to try to qualify for the state as well. Unfortunately, last season she was cut short due to a broken collarbone at sectionals, only one tournament away from the state championship. Sadly, Moore also missed the mark to qualify this season, but she still hopes to qualify next season. Overall, she hopes to be an inspiring leader on the team through her role as captain.
For Moore, girls’ wrestling is more than just a sport.
“I think women’s wrestling also just proves that women can do everything a man can. We have proven that we can come into a male-dominated sport and dominate.”
Freshman Sanya Glasser is new to wrestling. In just one season, she has been able to become a part of the team and truly learn about the importance of the community to the team.
“Because it’s such a small group of girls, we’ve all become very close friends,” Glasser said.
For Glasser, wrestling is not only challenging physically, but also mentally. Building confidence on the mat is her primary goal for the next season, especially as a new wrestler.
“It’s difficult to go to practice and work so hard every day, but the reward is going out on the mat, wrestling, and winning,” Glasser said. “It is such an achievement to know all the hard work paid off.”
Both Moore, Glasser, and Hartung encourage girls to join the program. They all emphasize that even though wrestling is an extremely challenging sport, it is also one of the most rewarding.
“It takes a lot of perseverance and takes a lot of courage, but it will pay off,” Glasser said. “It will make you one of the toughest people in any room you step into.”
The team is already looking towards next season. This is especially true in the case of Coach Hartung, who is hoping to double the number of girls on the roster next year. He would also love to help all the girls, whether experienced wrestlers like Moore or newer ones like Glasser, feel confident on the mat.
“Wrestling taught me that while you won’t always reach every goal, you can always master your response to adversity,” Coach Hartung said. “I want younger athletes to realize there is more to sports than goes far beyond the win-loss column.”