Beginning this year, the Indiana High School Athletic Association has started recognizing girls’ wrestling as a sanctioned sport. For junior Aaliyah Brown, this milestone marks the culmination of years of hard work and dedication to the sport. Brown started wrestling in seventh grade but made a full commitment to the sport her freshman year.
“I always wanted to be involved in a sport and find my place amongst everyone, I just never felt like I had a place until I heard about a call-out meeting for girls wrestling my freshman year,” Brown said. “I already knew a little about wrestling due to my two brothers, who both were already wrestling at the time. I showed up to the first practice and ended up falling in love with the sport.”
As her wrestling journey took off, Brown’s family decided to make the move from Lowell High School to Center Grove. She found a new team and a fresh start, wrestling for the Trojans ever since.
Reflecting on her first postseason with Center Grove, Brown remembers the motivation that fueled her performance.
“Last year I entered the postseason with a goal of placing higher than I did previously,” Brown said. “I ended up with a fourth place finish on the podium, achieving my goal of placing higher.”
Brown attributes much of her success to the hard work and determination she’s put into her training. Whether in or out of season, her commitment to improving her skills has been a constant.
“During the postseason in between practice, after practice and on the weekends I would go out to my garage with all of my family’s workout equipment and put in extra work,” said Brown. “Whether it be running three miles, attending CrossFit, going over moves with my brothers on our wrestling mats or memorizing different moves.”
Brown said she takes pride in completing her schoolwork and prioritizing it, even if it means less training time.
“School always comes first, so if I come home with extra school work after practice, I will complete that before I do any extra training at home,” Brown said.
Brown said she enjoys putting in extra work for wrestling and often finds herself training for extra hours outside of school practices.
“I attend both Contenders Wrestling Academy and Howe Wrestling School,” Brown said. “I go to multiple practices a week to help perfect my technique and learn new ways to take shots on my opponents.”
As Brown enters her final two seasons with the Trojans, she’s determined to leave a lasting impact—not only on her team but also on the future of girls’ wrestling.
“In the future, I see the numbers of girls wrestlers and girls high school wrestling teams growing even more than it has recently,” Brown said. “I am excited for the sport to evolve for current and future athletes, because it makes me feel like my hard work will finally be recognized.”
Despite her success, Brown knows that the journey hasn’t always been easy. She’s faced challenges, especially when it comes to proving herself as a female athlete in a male-dominated sport. Since the beginning, Brown has always wrestled alongside boys, never having been on a school team exclusively for girls—until now.
“As a female wrestler, you are kind of looked down on and compared to the boys,” Brown said. “The hardest thing for me was fitting in and kind of earning that recognition and respect on the team.”
Despite these challenges, Brown has continued to persevere. Her persistence has paid off, and she now looks ahead to the future of the new sport. With girls wrestling now officially sanctioned, the energy surrounding the sport is prepared for a shift.
“With girls wrestling finally being sanctioned I look forward to having a team of girls to support and compete with on the mat,” Brown said. “I think the energy will be different, which will be exciting because nobody has experienced it before.”
As the new season begins, Brown has set her sights on one specific goal: to become a state champion. As the only returning starter on the new team, she hopes to be a leader for her teammates and help them grow as athletes, and represent Center Grove Girls Wrestling.
“I hope to help my teammates grow as athletes and as people,” Brown said. “I am excited to watch this team grow and succeed together.”
Brown’s ultimate goal is to inspire the next generation of female wrestlers to believe in themselves and prove that they belong in the sport, just as much as their male counterparts.
“When my time comes to graduate I hope younger girls will look at me and see that there’s no limits to what you can achieve,” Brown said. “I hope my story inspires the next generation of female wrestlers to prove to themselves that they earned their spot on the team, and that they deserve to be there just as much as any guy.”
