First All-Girls Wrestling Club in NYC Builds Champions

Ariana Byrd didn't think she had what it took to be a wrestler, but one year later, she's the captain of her high school team and training to qualify for Junior Nationals.

The 15-year-old sophomore from Harlem tried tennis and lacrosse before, but nothing stuck. As an only daughter with two older brothers, she faced resistance from protective parents when she mentioned trying wrestling.

Then she discovered Lucha Wrestling Club, the first all-girls freestyle wrestling program in New York City. There, she found an unexpected community of female wrestlers led by coach Enas Ahmed, a two-time Olympian who represented Egypt in 2016 and 2020.

Ahmed focuses on helping girls build a connection between their mind and muscles, so they execute techniques with speed and conviction. "I learned a lot, and I want to use my own experience for the next generations," Ahmed says.

For Byrd, the transformation has been remarkable. "Coach Enas has helped me be so confident in my moves that I feel like nobody can beat me," she says.

Founded in the Bronx, where students often pass through metal detectors to enter school, Lucha aims to provide a pathway to college for young female wrestlers. The timing couldn't be better.

The Ripple Effect

Women's freestyle wrestling is exploding across America. Girls' wrestling became one of the fastest-growing high school sports in the country last year, with 74,000 participants, up 15 percent from the previous year.

Almost 1,000 schools added girls' wrestling programs. In January 2025, the NCAA added women's wrestling as its 91st championship sport, with the first-ever championship taking place earlier this month in Iowa.

The Lucha Wrestling Club started from a coach's decade-long determination to bring wrestling to Bronx high schools. Josh Lee, a former college wrestler turned special education teacher, spent a year calling administrators weekly until they agreed to start not one, but two wrestling teams in 2013.

Now girls travel up to 90 minutes by train from all over Manhattan to practice in the Bronx. They're learning that wrestling's ultimate test of resilience translates far beyond the mat.

Byrd's biggest turning point came in her first-ever match when she pinned her opponent and won. "That was one of the happiest moments of my life so far," she says.

Now when fear creeps in during a match, she uses positive self-talk, reminding herself to win every position and take every shot before the three minutes are up—exactly the kind of confidence that changes everything.