Wrestling against the norm

Freshman Kerigan McKenna tucks her hair into her cap and shakes off her sweats. Her opponent waits on the mat. As she faces him, the crowd leans forward for a closer look. They’re not used to the scene.

Kerigan competes as the only female athlete on Naperville North’s wrestling team.

And she’s no stranger to standing out. Kerigan has been wrestling in the male-dominated sport for nine years. Her father’s wrestling background inspired her to compete. When he encouraged her and her twin brothers, Quinn and Sean, to try the sport, it became a passion.

“My dad put us all into it when we were six, and then we just stayed with it,” Kerigan said. “We started at Waubonsie Wrestling Club when we were six, then we went to Gomez Wrestling Club, then Martinez Wrestling Club, then we wrestled for Washington Junior High School, and now we are at Naperville North.”

Kerigan and her two brothers have been wrestling together since they were little kids. Kerigan and Quinn wrestle at NNHS, and Sean is on the wrestling team at Marmion Academy.

“I learn better and learn different moves because my dad shows me how to do them on my brothers,” Kerigan said. “Then, I practice with my brothers.”

Despite her experience with the sport, Kerigan still feels as though she has to prove herself to wrestlers from different schools and from NNHS’ program.

“The other schools look at me like I’m psycho and that I can’t win because I am a girl,” Kerigan said.

Kerigan is the second female wrestler junior varsity head coach Humberto Gonzalez worked with.

“You can tell Kerigan has a really big passion for wrestling,” Gonzalez said. “She wants to be a good wrestler, and she takes this as serious as any other wrestler would. That makes it easier to coach her.”

Quinn said that his sister has never received special treatment for being the only girl in the sport.

“Kerigan’s been wrestling for nine years,” Quinn said. “She’s used to being the only girl on the team. If she shows up late to practice, coaches will yell at her just like anybody else.”

According to Gonzalez, Kerigan’s two brothers encourage her development as a high school wrestler.

“She has two brothers who are the same age and play the same sport,” Gonzalez said. “That kind of drives her and gives her the motivation to not only compete sibling-wise but to compete on the next level.”

With nothing but positive things to say about Kerigan and her wrestling style, senior captain Chris Zhang believes she is a great addition to the team.

“Anytime a girl joins a wrestling team, people are going to first look at her a little bit differently,” Zhang said. “But Kerigan’s different. Once she starts wrestling, everyone goes ‘wow.’ She’s a great wrestler, and she kicks half of the guys’ butts in practice anyway so she earned the respect of our wrestlers really fast.”

However, not everything can be the same. Since wrestling does not have many female participants, procedures must be different for Kerigan. According to Gonzalez, NNHS coaches and coaches from other schools are respectful and take the proper precautions in order to make her feel comfortable.

“The locker room is a major issue because she is only one person so we go into the guy’s locker room, change and quickly get the guys out,” Gonzalez said. “It’s just one of those things where she kind of has to be her own person when it comes to responsibility or approach us when she needs help.”

According to Gonzalez, weigh-ins can also pose a challenge.

“You have to ask her what her weight is and all of that stuff,” Gonzalez said. “The scales are normally in the guys’ locker room so we consciously make that effort to take the scales out of the locker room and into the hallway and have her weigh-in.”

But these modified arrangements do not affect the way her teammates think of her. Zhang said that part of what makes Kerigan such a positive addition to the team is her attitude and personality.

“She brings a whole different attitude,” Zhang said. “A lot of the guys love her and are good friends with her because she’s a good wrestler and a good person. She’s one of us now.”