Though many girls at Westlake have chosen volleyball or soccer as their main sport, freshman Jocelyn Lass is the first female wrestler since 2001. She was first inspired by the students in her class during fourth grade.

“I would see the guys wrestling in the playground,” Jocelyn said. “Girls didn’t do that, so I went home and asked my mom if there was any way I could do something like that.”

Jocelyn joined the Westlake Youth Wrestling Club in fourth grade, and it has been her primary activity ever since. She said it is a great way for her to destress at the end of the day.

“It’s just a sport where you can give it your all, and your hard work pays off in the end,” Jocelyn said.

Although Jocelyn practices against guys in her weight class, in tournaments she is only allowed to play against girls due to UIL restrictions. She won first place in District and third place in Regional. She was also the only Westlake representative in the UIL State wrestling tournament in Houston.

“Even though I didn’t place, I was overall pleased with my performance this year,” Jocelyn said. “[Placing] will be my goal for next year.”

Wrestling practices take place in the ninth grade center. Even though she’s the only girl on the team, Jocelyn isn’t treated differently than the rest of the boys. Other than the minor obstacles of finding a suitable gym locker and using a hair net, Jocelyn’s transition to the wrestling team was a fairly smooth one.

“Jocelyn is really fun to talk to,” freshman Sam Goodner said. “She’s definitely full of energy and unbelievably dedicated. She’s very modest about her accomplishments as a wrestler. She never tries to get attention or the spotlight, she just works hard for the sake of getting better. And that’s exactly what she’s done.”

One benefit of being the only girl on the team is that she automatically has a spot on the varsity team. There aren’t enough girls in the state of Texas to have a tournament with separate varsity and junior varsity teams.

“I’d only wrestle one person and get first in the district,” Jocelyn said.

There are three girls who will be joining the Westlake wrestling team next year.  Jocelyn plans to continue all four years and recommends it to anyone interested, whether they’ve had past experience or not.

“It’s a really good sport if you want to have a team who’s gonna be there for you,” Jocelyn said. “Just be prepared to work hard, give it your all, and have fun.”