GIRL POWER -- MYWAY's first girls state tournament is a big success

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BATTLE CREEK, MI – Marina Goocher had a Sunday that would make any wrestler tired.

Not only did the 17-year-old junior from Riverview Community High School wrestle in the high school boys 115-pound weight division at the Michigan Youth Wrestling Association (MYWAY) State Finals in Battle Creek, but she also took part in MYWAY's first girls state tournament.

All day Sunday she had to bounce back and forth between matches in both brackets, wrestling a total of nine times.

And when the day was done, she took fifth in the boys bracket with a record of 4-2, and won the girls state title with a perfect 3-0 mark.

“At the end, I was getting a little tired, but I managed it,” Goocher said. “I am more proud of my fifth place, because the guys bracket was more challenging, but I think the girls tournament is sweet, because it is nice to see so many girls wrestle.”

A total of 112 girl wrestlers took part, in what MYWAY organizers said was a great turnout for the tournament's first year.

Rayana Sahagun, an 11-years-old who wrestles for Michigan Xtreme in Grand Rapids, won the 76-pound championship. She went 4-0 on the day, and beat Mykala McCulan from Lowell in the finals.

“It was very fun,” Sahagun said. “It was pretty tough, there was good competition there. This was one of the toughest tournaments I was in.”

But Sahagun is tough herself.

“She is a Type-1 diabetic, and when we keep her sugar levels right, she is a beast and she is right there with the boys,” Michigan Xtreme owner and director Tom Bennett said. “It's hard to do that, but the point that she trains with the boys, and wrestles against the boys separates her against the girls.”

And that is it with the girls that are excelling in the sport, they aren't afraid of either gender.

“I like wrestling both, because it gets me better,” Sahagun said. “Wrestling is a fun sport to do, and I like proving that girls are just as tough as boys.”

Added Goocher: “I like wrestling girls, but wrestling girls right now doesn't seem that challenging. But I think they are going to get better now that we have tournaments like this.”

And that is the goal of MYWAY, to produce great female wrestlers like it's been doing with the boys for the past decade.

And that may pay dividends down the road.

“This is a good opportunity for girls to get some of their college paid for,” Bennett said. “There are more and more collegiate girls programs starting, and if Rayana stays with it, this will give her a chance to get some college paid for. Statistically, it's better for the girls to get some of their college paid for more than boys because there are not as many girls wrestling.”

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