Female Wrestler from Granby is No Novelty

To think that Granby resident Addison Wilkey’s wrestling career almost never happened.

Indeed, the 11-year-old fifth-grader who recently won the New England girls championship at 75 pounds almost never got on the mat because her father objected to the notion of a female wrestler.

“I was against it,” Matt Wilkey, Addison’s father, admitted sheepishly in a recent interview. “I would go to tournaments [to watch Addison’s older brother, Gavin, wrestle] and I would see girls wrestling against boys and ask, ‘Who would let their little girl wrestle?’”

But Addison would accompany Gavin to practice at FishEye Wrestling in Granby, and coach Jeff Fernandes persuaded Matt Wilkey to let Addison join the boys on the mat three years ago.

“She did really well,” Matt Wilkey said. “People said, ‘Stop being such a chauvinist.’ Whatever makes the kid happy. … Now we’re all for it.”

Addision is one of just a handful of girls who wrestles in the state, though there are some examples of girls competing, and performing well, on the mat. Avon High’s Jessica McCamish became the first girl to ever win a North Central Connecticut Conference title this year as a junior.

Addison, like McCamish, doesn’t just hold her own. The last two years that she has wrestled competitively - almost exclusively against boys - she qualified for the state tournament, which means she had to place in the top-four wrestlers in her age bracket. Both times she qualified for states by placing second at the qualifying tournament.

“She medaled in every tournament in her first year,” Matt Wilkey said. “She’s not a walkover.”

Sharmel Wilkey, Addison’s mother, said that she keeps one eye on her daughter and another on the competition, the overwhelming majority of which is boys.

“You hear some of them saying, ‘You got this. You’re just wrestling a girl,'” Sharmel said. “Others who know her say, ‘You gotta wrestle that kid from FishEye? She’s really good.'

“The parents are mostly fascinated to watch her. She’s good. She’s got good technique and a few moves. You hear some coaches yell, ‘Don’t let her get your neck.’ She’s fast.”

Fernandes, the head coach of FishEye, said that Addison “is a joy to coach,” but that he is hardly shocked by her success.

“I am pleased, but not surprised,” Fernandes wrote in an e-mail. “She's been with us for a few years. If you can handle what is thrown at you and not quit, success will be there. She is my first girl and I obviously have a soft spot for her. She's a great kid.”

Fernandes makes it clear that Addison is not a novelty, nor is she afforded any special treatment because she is a girl.

“She is expected to work as hard as the boys. And she does,” Fernandes wrote in an e-mail. “She cares about winning and hates to lose. She attends every practice without complaint. And trust me when I say that my wrestlers work harder than most high school teams.”

Indeed, FishEye Wrestling practices are notoriously brutal.

“We sprint in a circle, hop down and do 20 pushups super-fast and if we don’t do it in the time allotted, we have to do more,” Addison said. “It really does make you improve a lot.”

Fernandes has the bar set high for Addison, who won the New England girls’ tournament by defeating three fellow girls without having to qualify.

“She usually destroys the other girls,” Fernandes wrote. “Which she did again. When they reach their goals it's extremely satisfying. Her future is up her. As it is with all of my wrestlers: if she continues in the path she's on she should do well. If she picks up the pace and pushes herself harder, then I think she can place at the states with the boys, which is the real goal.”

And what does Addison think of her success on the mat?

“It’s pretty awesome,” she said with a smile.

Addision, for her part, just enjoys the competition.

“It’s really fun. I like the team. Everyone is really nice. I like the satisfaction of winning because it’s fun. I really love the coach.”

Still, Addison says that, despite being one of the few girls who wrestles in the state, “it’s not a big deal. I’m just one of 27.”