One of the Guys

Posted on December 28, 2011 , by junowebdesign

Shelby Mascareno is known as ‘one of the guys’ when she is performing for Abilene High School Boys Wrestling Team, the only problem being that she isn't a ‘he’.  This doesn't stop the way she performs though, on Friday she improved her record to 5-1 on the season when she finished first at the Council Grove Junior Varsity Tournament when she pinned both of her opponents to win in the 106 pound weight class.

The Team that’s based in Kansas doesn’t have a female wrestling division but they do allow girls to wrestle with the guys, which is uncommon, but can be very unusual.

“She’s a really great athlete,” said Abilene wrestling coach James Stout, adding that she plays on the summer softball team coached by his wife Becky and ran cross county for Abilene last fall. “She is determined to succeed.  “She has done a good job,” he added. “She’s been a great addition.”  He said sometimes she serves as motivation for the other wrestlers.  “I think some of the boys, subconsciously, see her working hard. They figure if she’s doing it, probably I should be too,” he added.  Mascareno started wrestling at the age of five. She doesn’t know why.  “I think my dad got me into it,” she said of her father Shane. Her mother is Carri.

By these accounts from fellow wrestlers and coaches, it seems that she has been a great motivational aspect to the sport for women.  Seeing a kid as young as this getting into a sport that is mainly dominated by men is a great aspirational aspect for other girls her age to want to get involved in this sport.

Mascareno has hope and dreams to go higher level and to go to varsity level, if she carries on with the record she has now, the skies can be the limit for her.