Augsburg’s Shilson and Baker lead preseason girls wrestling clinic

HOPKINS, M.N. – – Nearly fifty girls showed up for Hopkins Girls Youth Wrestling Clinic led by Augsburg wrestlers Emily Shilson and Vayle-rae Baker.

From advanced warm-up drills to double legs and more, the girls experienced a practice run by two high level athletes. They got a taste of the knowledge their clinicians have, and also heard about potential options for their future. Opportunities for girls wrestling are increasing, but it’s still not an everyday occurrence to have talent like Shilson and Baker in the same room running a youth clinic.

In their opening remarks, Baker suggested that the girls, “be sponges,” everywhere they go and to “take notes.” Shilson reiterated the practice and added, “it doesn’t happen by accident.”

With roots deep in Minnesota wrestling, Emily Shilson said, “It’s really cool to see a clinic like this and how many girls we can get out on a Sunday. It wasn’t like that when I first started wrestling—there were hardly any girls.” She also added how great it is to work with the young girls with big goals. “That way it’s not just about winning, and it’s something other than wrestling itself.”

Sunday’s clinic was a bonus for Hopkins Girls Youth Wrestling Club’s month of introductory practices. Essentially, the club offers eight sessions where girls get to work exclusively with other girls before regular season and, if they like it, can continue on with regular season that’s a mixture of boys and girls.

Head Coach Billy Barrington said, “The month is meant to get the girls introduced to the sport without ever having to worry about boys as one of the obstacles.” The numbers more than doubled from nine to twenty-five in their second year of hosting the sessions. And, Coach Barrington noted that the growth has shown them that they can bring in more. The goal is eventually to work toward offering more age or skill-based sessions versus sessions where all ages and skill levels are together.

Vayle-rae Baker is originally from Pennsylvania. She said she didn’t have an opportunity like this until she was at a USA Wrestling camp in her mid-teens. “These girls are getting that at such a young age, and they’re getting exposed to high level athletes. I think the sport’s really growing and I’m really excited for it.”

Baker was involved with youth wrestling in Pennsylvania, but said, “It’s different being able to come here because I feel like there’s so much more unity within the state for girls . . . I always looked up to the girls in Pennsylvania who were older and more experienced and getting to be that for some of these girls in Minnesota is really cool.”

At the state level, Minnesota has not yet sanctioned girls wrestling. But within the state, many clubs are fully supportive of girls wrestling and work to create opportunities for them to train and compete. Shilson said, “Sanctioning would make girls wrestling in Minnesota explode,” noting Missouri’s surge in participation after sanctioning earlier this year. She added, “Boys wrestling would also grow, and it would just be great for the sport overall.”

Practices for the Hopkins Girls Youth Wrestling Club are held at the Lindberg Center on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s from 6-7:30, through October 10th. Coach Barrington says there seems to be a new face at each practice, and more info can be found, here.

Both Shilson and Baker are freshman at Augsburg University—Minnesota’s only collegiate program currently offering women’s wrestling. Fans will be able to watch the Augsburg women compete at a home dual in Minneapolis on January 18th, 2020.