How the fastest growing high school sport in Nebraska continues to break down barriers heading into state

Girls wrestling is the fastest growing Nebraska high school sport in the last four years, according to the Nebraska School Activities Association.

Tuesday’s state tournament is more evidence of that growth. It’s the first time girls have their own championship event, separate from boys wrestling, at the CHI Health Center in Omaha.

State qualifier Bristol Prado is a sophomore at Chadron High School and reflected on when she decided to try wrestling. Her grandfather, who coached boys wrestling for 40 years, wasn’t so sure about that choice.

“I’m not gonna lie, my grandpa wasn’t really a big fan of me wrestling. He didn’t think I was gonna stick it out. I don’t think he thought I was tough enough,” Prado said, “But here I am, four years later, and I think he’s really proud of me and really proud of how much I’ve opened up.”

Now Prado’s grandfather, Ed Planansky, has grown into an advocate for the sport. He recalls an experience at a recent competition.

“The girls wrestled the first duel. Then the announcer said, ‘Now for the main event, the boys will wrestle.’ I wanted to go over and strangle him,” Planansky said. “The girls, their skills are improving dramatically.”

Participation in girls wrestling has risen by 200% since it was sanctioned in 2021. Prado said that matters for a variety of reasons, including changing the minds of those who doubted how successful the sport could be.

“I think that’s a big part of it,” Prado said. “We can show older generations that might have more of a negative opinion on women’s wrestling, that we’re resilient, we’re strong, and we belong here.”

Prado’s grandpa will be cheering her on this week, as she competes for the 120 lbs. state championship.

Her teammate, senior Addie Diers, has seen a lot of change in her six years of wrestling.

“I remember literally having a losing record all the way up throughout middle school, because I just wrestled boys all the time,” Diers said. “I really enjoy having female wrestling around. It’s a big community. I deeply enjoy it.”

She finished the season 34-5 and earned her 100th career win this year.

For a recent tournament in West Point, Diers and her teammates traveled six hours to compete.

“It’s kind of like we’re paving the way for western Nebraska teams to be able to come here and do this,” Diers said.

Diers said Chadron High has made several trips of five or six hours to the eastern part of the state this season.