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Not your average girl: Wrestling with the boys old hat to coach's daughter

BY GEARY DENISTON, FOR THE SOUTHERN

Tuesday, December 19, 2006 7:14 AM CST

CARBONDALE - At first glance, the 112-pounder wearing the old fashioned cap waiting to wrestle for Carbondale High School seems to be just one of the boys. But upon closer inspection "he" turns out to be freshman Alli Ragan, one of the few girls participating in an almost exclusively male sport.

Competing against boys is old hat for Ragan. She started wrestling at 5 years of age and judo when she was 7. She competed in the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation and in judo was a three-time national champion. Competing against another girl is a rarity.

"I wrestled on a couple all-girls national teams, but I have mainly wrestled boys my entire life. It was the same in judo," Ragan said. "So having to wrestle boys now is not something I worry about."

Considering that there is a major strength difference between teenage boys and girls, it would be reasonable to think she wouldn't be very successful going up against boys her own age or older. The equalizing factor is she is competing boys roughly the same weight.

However, nothing could be farther from the truth. She started the season by winning her first six matches. Going into the prestigious Mascoutah Tournament this past weekend she was tied for second on the team with an 8-1 record, losing only to a sophomore state qualifier.

"I don't lift that much weight and when I do it's pretty much pointless, so I'm pretty weak upper body. I have to win by technique and using my speed," Ragan said.

She has more than held than her own, winning eight of her first nine matches, and winning by decisive margins. Four of her victories have been pins.

Besides the strength issues, wrestling poses a unique challenge for a girl. It is a sport where the two participants are rolling around the mat and grabbing each other in sensitive areas.

In typical Ragan fashion she has turned that into an advantage.

"Even though it is hard being a girl wrestling boys I kind of have an advantage because I am a girl," Alli said.

"The boys are kind of scared at grabbing me in certain areas, so I use that to my advantage. As far as me being concerned about that sort of thing it doesn't bother me at all. It never has."

With all of that to think about it would have been reasonable for Alli to be apprehensive.

But once again nothing could be farther from the truth.

Helping her make the transition are her father and older brother, who are two of her biggest fans, but also her coach and teammate.

"I wasn't nervous at all coming into the season. I was pretty stoked actually because my dad and brother are here," Ragan said.

"We also have a pretty good team this year and we mesh pretty well, so I was ready to get started."

All the years of having a coach in the family and an older brother to work with has made it easier for her to make that transition.

"I got started wrestling mainly because of my dad," she said. "The sport is basically in our blood. In fact I wear a cap he used to wear when he was young to keep my hair in place.

"It's pretty cool wrestling for my dad even though he doesn't give me any slack. If anything he is probably harder on me. It's also pretty cool wrestling with my brother on the team. He is my role model. When we wrestle at home in the living room he kills me. We aren't that far apart in weight and it's super competition, but it isn't even a match for him."

Speaking of having athletics in her blood, Ragan's mother is the volleyball coach at John A. Logan College. The younger Ragan was a starter on the Terrier varsity volleyball team and earned second team All-Conference honors.

"As a little kid my mother would take me in my stroller to her volleyball practices," Ragan said. "My mom is super cool. In the fall she is never home because of volleyball season, but in the winter, wrestling is her sport because of us. She never discouraged me from going into wrestling."

Wrestling can also be tough on a person with many � including her father � developing cauliflower ears. But once again Alli sees that in a different light.

"I don't worry about getting cauliflower ears even though my dad has them bad. If it comes it comes. It shows toughness I guess," Alli said.

If you're thinking Ragan is nothing but a tomboy, you would be wrong. In fact she has brought a girl's touch to the team.

"Alli had an idea at the beginning of the season," her brother Jared said. "We always take showers after the meets, so she insisted we have all our names and a little pink rose put on the towels. It's great having her on the team. She really brings a lot of intensity to the room."