“More girls should do wrestling,” Glacier Bears junior Gracie Stickler said, days after competing at the wrestling state championship in Anchorage. This was Stickler’s first year on the team as a heavyweight wrestler. She was the only girl to wrestle for the Glacier Bears this season.

Stickler is one of around 40 female wrestlers in Southeast Alaska, wrestling head coach Cosmo Fudge said. Finding partners to wrestle was a big challenge of her season.There were no female opponents in Stickler’s weight class at the regional tournament, earning her a state qualification by default.

“It was nice going to state, but I feel like I would have been happier if I could have proven that I should be there,” Stickler said.

The highlight of her season was winning the Bill Weis Tournament in Ketchikan, Stickler said. She had lost to her opponent earlier in the tournament and was “determined to beat her” in the finals. Stickler pinned her a minute and a half through the first period. Sticklers record was 2-6 this season.

“I got myself pumped up and went out there like I could do it. I tried my hardest and I got her,” Stickler said. “It was my mindset. It's like all the boys said, you have to go into the match with a good mindset. If you go in and think you're going to lose, you're going to lose.”

Junior wrestler Douglas Adams said Stickler “inspires the team to push themselves.” Adams and Stickler often train against each other at practice.

“Any time she had her foot on the line and the whistle was blown, she gave it her all,” Adams said. “She brought a lot of energy and heart to every match.”

Stickler said she was nervous to join the team at first, but after 12-hour car rides and countless practices, they became “one big family.” She says her male teammates are “really weird, because they’re high school boys.”

“I walked into the gym and I just laughed the whole practice,” Stickler said. “They just do the most random things.”

As Stickler moves into the off-season, she is focused on getting stronger than her opponents for her final year of high school wrestling.

“She's fresh to the sport,” Fudge said. “She got to see a new level of competition up (in Anchorage) this week and she saw what it is she needs to work on. I'm looking forward to having her on the team next year.”

Stickler said she has “only gotten a lot of compliments” about her choice to join the team.

“It's kind of seen as an only guys sport, so when you see another girl doing it it’s very inspiring,” Stickler said. “A girl can really do all that. It's so cool. It's not like you're going to walk into the gym and the guys and coaches are going to glare at you, they were so excited when I joined. It's very uplifting.”