Matadors Wrestling Club hosts all-girls clinic

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA) - The growth of girls wrestling in Yuma County is on full display this week as Matadors Wrestling Club is hosting a clinic aimed at helping young female athletes develop their skills and learn more about the opportunities available within the sport.

Led by Matadors Wrestling Club owner Pepe Moreno, three-time NAIA national champion Carolina Moreno and three-time NAIA All-American Emma Baertlein, the clinic welcomed girls ages eight and older for instruction, mentorship and team-building activities.

“The fact that we can put a girls camp together is just a testament of how wrestling has grown, and how quick it’s picked up for females,” Pepe Moreno said.

The camp focused on improving wrestling fundamentals while also exposing participants to role models who have achieved success at the highest levels of collegiate competition.

“Grow their technique for starters, but more than anything, bring some role models — Caro and Emma,” Pepe said. “I mean, Caro is from Somerton, from Kofa, from this area and just let the girls know that, if you wanna pursue this path, there are way and opportunities to do it.”

For Carolina, the clinic provided a chance to offer young wrestlers an experience she never had growing up. As a youth wrestler, she primarily competed against boys, making a girls-only environment a unique opportunity for the next generation.

“I grew up wrestling boys, so I was a little bit more familiar, but someone who might not have been around boys, or comfortable with even wrestling might be a little bit harder to get them into it,” she said. “So I feel like it’s more welcoming and we’re able to do a lot more team bonding and activities catered towards young women.”

Moreno said the continued growth of girls wrestling is exciting because of the expanding opportunities now available to female athletes.

“I think it’s awesome to be able to show the next generation, not even what it did for me, [but] how much more it’s been able to do in all the opportunities that have opened up just for women," Moreno expressed. "I wish I could [have done] a girls camp when I was eight years old so that’s pretty awesome to start them off from a younger age.”

Baertlein also enjoyed the opportunity to teach younger wrestlers, noting that coaching can strengthen her own understanding of the sport.

“It’s really fun to be able to think back and break down your technique really slowly and each individual step,” Baertlein said. “Honestly, it helps my wrestling, as well. When you start thinking about every single move like that, and breaking it down, it elevates your own wrestling, as well.”

While the clinic emphasized technical development on the mat, Moreno said the lessons learned through wrestling can extend far beyond athletic competition.

“There’s so many things that can kind of translate over to life, and that’s ultimately the biggest goal, right, is how can you sustain wrestling to get the benefits of the long game,” Moreno said. “Not just winning a state title - always what’s next, and how you can translate all the things you learn into your life as you get older.”

30 wrestlers registered for the event that runs June 9-11.