Due to their strong personal bonds with each other and coaches throughout the 2022-2023 season, the Souderton girls wrestling team competed in the state matches at Central Dauphin High School on March 12. According to freshman Emily Sarr, throughout the season, the small size of the girls wrestling team, only six athletes, has caused them to grow personal bonds with each other. “We all definitely get along with each other. It has definitely been good getting such strong friendships with [the other wrestlers] because we are a small team and we have had to stick together,” Sarr said. Coach Chris Atkinson agrees that since the team is small, he does not think there has been any “in-fighting” between any of the girls and with their close bond he thinks they all have come together for a “common goal.” Sarr thinks that the support from her teammates and coaches helps her as a wrestler. “I know that the coaches believe in me and my teammates believe in me so that really helps me a lot because if they think that I can do it then it helps me believe that I am able to do these great things,” Sarr said. From a coach’s perspective, Atkinson loves to support the girls and let them have new experiences while being in a match. With only six players on the team, two qualified for states, Sarr and junior Giselle Ramirez. Sarr is pleased that she qualified. “States is just a huge tournament. It is kind of like taking the best of the best, so honestly I am not really sure what to expect,” Sarr said. “I am kind of just happy that I was able to qualify for this.” Atkinson is proud of his two qualifiers.“Giselle won a match. Emily did not win any matches, but Emily is only a freshman,” Atkinson said. “Emily got to see how much bigger the sport is than she can ever imagine.” According to Atkinson, making it to states was a challenging task for some girls, but since they had the support of their coach they challenged themselves and “did it with a smile on their face.” All he expects from the girls is to go out there and give it their all. “It is so rewarding to accept that challenge and to test your body and test your limits mentally and physically and see the product coming out the other end,” Atkinson said. Even with their great success as a smaller team with close bonds, the girls and coach would like more girls to join the team. “We had a great season. Obviously, I want more numbers. We are getting ready to go into year four of the girls program,” Atkinson said. Sarr agrees. “We are having pretty good results this season. It would make it a lot better if we had more people on our team,” Sarr said