CINCINNATI, Ohio — It’s one of the fastest-growing sports in the nation —but girls wrestling hasn’t always been accepted.

Thanks to coaches and advocates around the state, girls wrestling is taking a major step towards becoming an OHSAA-sanctioned sport.

• The Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association is hosting the first-ever state championship for girls wrestling this year
• Coach Dexter Carpenter at Badin High School has recruited and encouraged girls to wrestle for over 30 years
• The tournament is the first step for the sport to become official with the OHSAA

It’s a male-dominated sport, but at Badin High School girls have been welcome on the wrestling team for 15 years since the team started. And for the first time, they’ll be able to participate in a girls' state championship.

It’s not an uncommon sight to see senior captain Sam Caballero beat a boy. But tonight is special —she just pinned her competitor from a Division I all-boys school.

But getting to this point wasn’t easy. Hours of training, several injuries, and bruises later, Caballero says she would never regret joining this team.

“I could definitely call it a family," Caballero said. "It’s one of the best experiences I’ve had at Badin.”

That’s not to say it wasn’t a little awkward wrestling boys at first, but once these girls realized they could beat the boys, their mindset completely changed.

“It’s a great feeling, honestly," Rachel Nusky a freshman wrestler on the varsity team said. "Like beating a girl is good too, but when you beat a guy and you see their face when they’re like, I just got beat up by a girl. It’s kind of fun to watch.”

At Badin, being a girl wrestler actually isn’t all that unusual. This year, three girls are on the team. And last year’s star Andrea Schlabach even got a scholarship to the University of Cumberlands to wrestle.

“I can just see that it’s growing," Nusky said. "And if I really stay with this sport I could get a scholarship too.”

“She really just took me under her wing and taught me everything I know and she was really funny and we always played around," Caballero said about Schlabach. "And I loved that about her. And I wanted to be that same person to Brooke and Rachel and they’ve really gotten really good since they started.”

But it wasn’t easy for many people to understand why these girls decided to wrestle in the first place.

“I told my grandparents and they were like, what? A girl wrestling?" Brooke Weisbrodt a sophomore wrestler on the varsity team said. "And then I did it and they all came to watch me and I started pinning guys and it was the best feeling in the world.”

“Change is always a challenge," head coach Dexter Carpenter said. "And some people are made for it and some are not.”

Coach Carpenter actually spearheaded the movement for girls wrestling in the southwest part of the state. Because of Coach Dexter’s race and his past, he feels he can relate to these girls.

“I owe the sport back," Carpenter said. "So whatever I can do to give back, in this case, I can give it to these young ladies, they can be part of it. And the state tournament is going to be huge.”

The state tournament is a major step forward for girls wrestling in the state of Ohio. The tournament, hosted by the Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association, is the first step towards the sport becoming sanctioned with the OHSAA.

“We’re behind," Carpenter said. "All the other states as far as I can see right or left already have girls state wrestling and they don’t have to wrestle against boys.”

Girls will still be allowed to compete in the OHSAA state championship, but many seldom qualify.

But for this Badin team, knowing they are a part of history in this sport is something they will always be proud of.

“Knowing that girls wrestling is the fastest-growing sport and this is just the beginning of it and I was a part of it, I can tell my kids one day ‘Hey! I did that!’ And they’re going to be like ‘You did? Can I try?’” Caballero said.

States is February 22 and 23 at Hilliard Davidson High School in Columbus. Coach Dexter is predicting four to five hundred girls will participate.