MacArthur High School helping pave way in growing girls wrestling on Long Island: Seen in a new light

In the wrestling room in the back of the MacArthur High School gymnasium, you’ll find the 17-member girls wrestling team honing its craft. It wouldn’t be uncommon to find the music bumping as the girls paired off to work on a move or running laps around the room to cool down from a long practice.While the scene may sound like a day’s work for any high school sports team, the girls wrestling team at the suburban Long Island high school is a bit of a rarity. While high school wrestling — and girls’ high school wrestling, in particular — has been growing across the country, MacArthur was the first all-girls high school wrestling team in Nassau County. It’s a distinction that the team — coached by Nick Rausenberger and Travis Cooksey and captained by senior Gabbi Schechtman — has taken pride in throughout its first season in existence. “I think girls wrestling is being seen in a new light,” Schechtman said.

“I think that women’s wrestling is growing around the country, especially on Long Island.And now that there’s developed girls teams, I think the stigma around women’s wrestling is really decreasing.” In Nassau County, MacArthur and Uniondale High School are the only all-girls wrestling teams at the high school level, and in Suffolk, there are just five sanctioned high school girls teams.

The MacArthur program includes girls not just from the district, but also from other schools such as JFK Bellmore, Farmingdale, Syosset, Mepham, Herricks and Seaford. It’s a mix of athletes whose skills range from having become involved in the sport at a young age to those who have stepped onto the mat for the first time.Their introductions to the sport can vary from having a family member or friend compete to simply hearing an announcement at school and wanting to try something new, but regardless, the passion for wrestling is evident. “It’s part of my life now and I love it so much,” said junior Justine Zheng, who attends Seaford Hi...