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Fairfax County’s introduction of varsity girls’ wrestling has already opened a path to college competition for three athletes who helped pioneer the sport in local high schools.

McLean High School graduate Kaelyn MacKay and Oakton High School graduate Kate Crockett will wrestle at Ithaca College, while Lewis High School graduate Ashley Lopez will continue at Marymount University.

MacKay began Brazilian jiu-jitsu at age 8 after her mother encouraged her to learn self-defense. She competed locally for eight years before realizing the sport was not an option in college.

Wrestling offered a similar style of competition, but MacKay did not join McLean’s boys’ team as a freshman because her father opposed the idea. Two years later, Fairfax County added girls’ varsity wrestling, and she eagerly joined the inaugural group of athletes.

MacKay described the opportunity as “a golden ticket.”

“Girls should have the same chance as anybody else,” she said. “Wrestling is a very inclusive sport. You can be any shape or size, so it’s very impactful for all girls.”

Crockett started wrestling near the end of eighth grade and entered high school expecting the sport’s long practices and team environment to strengthen her focus and time-management skills.

When she first joined Oakton’s program, many tournaments were co-ed and only four girls participated. By this past school year, the girls’ team had grown to 13 wrestlers and competed in its own varsity category.

The countywide change also gave Crockett, who earned All-American status as a senior, access to more tournaments. She said some students had previously hesitated to join because they were unsure whether they would have a place in the sport.

Crockett also pushed back against the belief that girls’ wrestling is less demanding because it has fewer participants.

“Just because it’s smaller, that doesn’t mean it’s not as hard and that doesn’t mean that we don’t work as hard in order to accomplish our goals,” she said.

Lopez turned to wrestling as a way to manage stress and build a routine. When she began at Lewis, the team included about three girls, and she mostly competed against boys.

She said the creation of girls’ varsity wrestling has made the sport increasingly appealing and helped the first athletes establish a lasting example for those who follow.

“The legacy we’re leaving behind is that girls can also wrestle,” Lopez said. “We can also do it, too. We work just as hard. We are all wrestlers in the sport.”

Lopez connected with Marymount’s coach during a recruitment camp, leading to her opportunity to wrestle for the university.

Lewis head wrestling coach Jason Planakis said girls-only tournaments are becoming more common as collegiate opportunities expand. Although he found the wait for girls’ wrestling to receive separate varsity status frustrating, he said the focus now is on the opportunities available to athletes.

“We’re here now,” Planakis said, “so we’re all pretty excited that everybody has the opportunity.”