- Slug: Sports-ASU female wrestler, about 1900 words.
- Photos attached below.
- Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1rOXhYJA9A8B1K5RbL9khVQHa8smCICkg&usp=sharing
- Medal count: https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/962927/?utm_source=showcase&utm_campaign=visualisation/962927
By Sarah Farrell
Cronkite News
TEMPE – Trailblazing must be in Marlee Smith’s DNA. One day, while cheering on her dad’s football team, the squad found itself a player short and an unexpected opportunity arose for the 8-year-old.
“He looked at me and he said, ‘I’m taking Marlee,’” her mom, Christie Smith, said. “He took her off the sideline, threw pads on her and put her on the football field.”
It didn’t end there. Marlee followed her male teammates to wrestling, a popular activity in her hometown of Wantage, New Jersey. She thrived in the sport, which led to a difficult choice many female wrestlers face after high school: choose a school where she could continue to wrestle other women or try to join a men’s roster at a school that offered the major she wanted?
Continue reading “What’s next? As women’s wrestling grows, the landscape of opportunities changes”