At West Chicago Community High School, there has long been a competitive boys wrestling program, but since Jayden Huesca (‘24) became an IHSA state champion, the girls program has changed dramatically – growing in both size and confidence.
Senior Brissia Bucio has been on the wrestling team for four years and has fallen even more in love with the sport over time. She has seen the team grow from an initial group of 10 girls to nearly 40 this season.
“I think it’s insane how fast the sport overall has been growing ever since my freshman year,” senior Brissia Bucio said. “We started off with not even hitting double digits. And then sophomore year we had around 14. And now this year, it has grown an insane amount.”
Junior Mackensie Szajda emphasized the high expectations placed on the girls, pushing athletes through intense physical conditioning while also testing them mentally.
“It’s just a very challenging sport. It pushes you to the limits, like the kind of conditioning that you do for a wrestling team, you would not think you would be doing it,” Szajda said. “[It] pushes you mentally and overall, it has created me to be a way better person.”
Szajda reflected that those challenges did not just shape her as an athlete, but helped her grow as a person, a transformation many wrestlers say extends far beyond the mat.
That change has boosted confidence and optimism shared by teammates, who say the program now carries a renewed sense of energy and expectation.
“I believe that this team is showing a lot of aggression,” Bucio said. “Which is a big shocker compared to last year, and so that gives me high hopes for this season, especially on the girls team.”
Bucio’s mention of the noticeable shift in the team’s mindset and numbers points to a growing sense of toughness and determination that stands in sharp contrast to last season.
“I’m really happy because it demonstrates how women want to do what men can do,” Bucio said. “I’ve always been the kind of girl that wants to prove that girls can do the same things that guys can do, and joining a sport that is mainly male-dominated is insane to me.”
Upperclassmen continue to demonstrate talent, but several freshmen and sophomores, including Alana Smith and Allison Rocha, have risen to the occasion and show promise for the future of the program.
“My desire to win,” Smith said. “Winning feels good, and it drives me to want to be better and to work harder.”
Smith distilled the team’s momentum to its core motivation: a competitive hunger that is shaping the next generation of wrestlers. That drive, she explained, fuels constant self-improvement and hard work, capturing the spirit of a program that is rapidly finding its footing.
