Bloomington High School South, The Gothic, 2007, Page 177

Description:	restlerettesMaking a Difference On and Off the MatStory By Alex AudretschAlthough their effort and determination is less well known than that of the wrestlers,the wrestlerettes played an important part in the achievements of Souths wrestling team.They kept team records in order, filmed matches to be reviewed later by coaches and wrestlers, and helped manage scoring and timers during tournaments. Even though they never gota chance to get on the mat, they got up in the wee hours on Saturday mornings to accompanythe team.They even did the teams laundry, washing dirty warm-up sweatsuits, towels, andsinglets.To become wrestlerettes, girls answered a questionnaire about wrestling. Becausewrestlerettes were so involved with keeping track of the score on paper and operating thescoreboards in large tournaments, only girls who had a decent knowledge of wrestling ruleswere accepted. Scorekeeping was one of the most important activities, and it required a largeamount of wrestling knowledge. If the scoreboard ever showed something wrong, the paperrecord needed to be consulted, and it had to be accurate. What they did not know aboutwrestling, they were taught by more experienced wrestlerettes. Its nice meeting freshmenevery year .. .and teaching them about all of what we do, said junior Stephanie Inman.Freshman Kayla Appleberry, did much of the teams filming. The videotaping is really important for the wrestlers so they can see what moves they are being sloppy on... [Thevideotapes] also help a lot during sectionals so they can see what their opponents like to dobefore the match, she said. A couple of wrestlerettes had been instructed by wrestling coachand trainer Mr. Paul Viterisi on how to set up the camera equipment. They were taught whenand when not to shut the camera off during pauses in the match and how to handle the camera best so that the wrestlers were easy to see when the team was reviewing tapes.Between the filming, the scoring, and the washing, wrestlers were very appreciative of the help the wrestlerettes gave. The wrestlers recognized the importance of thesegirls enthusiasm and dedication to the wrestling team. Its really hard to say how much [thewrestlerettes] did for our team. said sophomore wrestler Kyle Bristol, Without them.. .wecouldnt have done any of the special things our team got to do.Above: Freshman Cynthia Hillenburg creates ascrapbook for the wrestlers. All wrestlerettescame together to make a scrapbook about thewrestlers after the season to keep the memories for those who wouldnt return the followingseason.<rt Cf^Wrestterettes C^C^S^^O ActivitiesAbove: Although they play around while doingit, juniors Jessica Rautenkranz and StephanieInman load towels into a dryer. To make laundry more fun, wrestlerettes would occasionallyclimb in and out of the dryer.
Source:	http://cdm17129.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/hs-bloomsouth/id/7701
Collection:	Bloomington High School South

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