The Valmeyer-Red Bud wrestling co-op will see representation at the first ever IHSA Girls Wrestling State Final Tournament as sophomore Avery Smith will take to the mat. 

Smith advanced to this highest level of competition after placing second in the sectional tournament, landing her a spot at this weekend’s finals. 

“I’m hoping to take the title, I want to get first,” Smith said. “I’m really excited about it considering this is the first thing they’ve done for girls. Either way, if I go to state and don’t do that good, I just think it’s really cool to even make it there.” 

Red Bud High School wrestling coach Rob Pipher said Smith’s grit made it so he was not surprised she made it to state – even though it was her first year of high school wrestling. 

“She’s very tough,” Pipher said. “She’s mean and tough and she will just mix it up with anybody.” 

Smith began wrestling at age 8, when her mother encouraged her to try the sport over boxing. She joined the Bulldogs Youth Wrestling Club, with her dad later becoming involved as a coach, and fell in love with wrestling. 

“It’s a fun sport. You get to know people better and make friends. It gives me drive to keep going,” Smith said. 

But when Smith got to high school, she faced a dilemma: Valmeyer, her school, did not have a wrestling team. With the 2021-22 academic year bringing a return to the normal wrestling season, Smith and administration at Valmeyer and Red Bud began the process of forming a co-op. This allowed Smith to wrestle on Red Bud’s team, ultimately allowing her to continue her competitive career through high school. 

While this was a process riddled with paperwork and board meetings, Smith said going to state justifies it. 

“I thought it was really cool because we went through all that and now look where I’m at – I’m going to state. I think all that was worth it considering I’m now going to state,” she said. 

Pipher explained this year is IHSA’s first girls series, providing Smith the choice to wrestle primarily male opponents or girls only. In the latter, Smith saw a unique opportunity. 

“I was going to choose boys but I thought it would be really cool to go to girls considering they don’t do much girls things around here,” she said. “Having a bunch of girls competing against each other is just really cool because usually it’s a male dominant sport, so just to have girls dominate the sport (now) is really awesome to me.” 

Smith has competed in girls-only meets, but never in a series where she had to best girls-only competition to advance. Most of the time, she is wrestling boys – if the rules permit. 

“Missouri no longer allows girls to wrestle boys,” Pipher said. “We went there for a couple of meets this year and Avery was not able to wrestle because they didn’t have any females on their team and they wouldn’t wrestle a guy against her. They do have their own girls state series too.” 

He said Illinois may soon move in this direction should teams get enough girl wrestlers. For now, at most meets and at practice, Smith squares up against male opponents. 

“I think it prepares her better,” he said. “I think she’s had tougher competition. I don’t want to say the girls aren’t as good, I just think the guys are stronger and so they’ve given her a harder season than she might have had if it were all girls.” 

Smith said this fear can lead to less girls entering the sport, perpetuating a lack of representation. 

“I say try it, it’s fun to beat boys up,” Smith encouraged other girls. “A lot of girls get scared. They think that they’re going to get their butt kicked in stuff when it’s nothing like that. There are ups and downs, but it’s really fun and you get to make friends. It’s like a big family to me.” 

Pipher said he noticed girls may have a different type of advantage over their all-male competition, too. 

“I’ve seen many times guys try to do things to girls that won’t work, they could do it on guys and will actually hurt a guy, but for girls, their arms bend differently and they’re just more flexible. They do have an advantage in that area,” he said. 

For Pipher, his expectations of Smith this weekend are high, and Smith said she’s ready for the challenge. 

“We hope she does great,” Pipher said. “We’re expecting big things from her.”