How perseverance paid off for Bald Eagle Area wrestler Grace Stem in District 6 dual

Grace Stem’s introduction to the sport of wrestling was a rude one.

“I broke my arm in my first match,” said Bald Eagle Area’s sophomore 126-132-pounder, who has a 10-11 record in her first year with the varsity. “I was in fourth grade and my parents didn’t want me to do it anymore. So I stayed away from it until I was in eighth grade. And that year wasn’t that great because I didn’t know anything. But I kept at it.’’

That perseverance paid off for the Eagles in last week’s District 6 team dual meet tournament final against Westmont-Hilltop last week when she took the Hilltoppers’ 126-pounder Tanner Kushner down twice and reversed him once for a 6-2 victory that gave BEA a 10-point lead. While BEA ended up losing 38-33, Stem helped put her team in a position to win going into that final bout.

The Eagles fans gave her a standing ovation when her hand was raised.

“Complete euphoria’’ is how Stem described her feelings after the bout. “It felt so good. I loved it,” she said.

It was perhaps even more satisfying because she actually got to wrestle a bout instead of accepting a forfeit after making sure she was down to weight.

“My dad (John Stem) checks the roster of whoever we’re wrestling to see if I will have someone (to wrestle),’’ she said. “I try not to get frustrated if they don‘t. I just go with the flow. Even if I don’t have someone I try to keep good a good mindset.”

Then there’s the natural issue of being a girl in what is a male-dominated sport. By now her teammates are used to having her in the wrestling room.

“At first I think it was weird for them,’’ she said. “But they’ve gotten used to it. I would say they treat me just like one of the guys.”

Her opponents are the ones who have more difficulty with the gender difference.

“I’ve been discriminated against,” she added. “I have had people say they’ve heard things in the stands. I try not to let it get to me. And I can tell if someone doesn’t want to wrestle me. Sometimes they hit me in the face. But they haven’t done anything dirty.

“I like wrestling against guys but think I compete better against girls. But if I had a choice between wrestling against guys or girls I’d probably stay with wrestling the guys. The thing is with guys they have more experience than me. They’re been wrestling since they were five, six, seven years old and I’m just in my third year.’’

According to coach Ron Guenot, she’s making up the ground through a strong work ethic.

“She does everything the right way,” he said. “She had to lose a little weight to get down (to 126) but she was committed to getting down. She works harder than anyone.

“Technique-wise, it’s no different for a girl or a guy. She does the shadow wrestling and drilling just like the guys do. If I had 20 wrestlers in the room who drill like she does we’d have a heck of a team.’’

Guenot admitted there have been some adjustments necessary to accommodate having Stem on the squad.

“It’s not been awkward for the guys,” he said. “They’ve been around her. She’s always there at open practices and they know her from junior high.

“It’s the things you don’t think about, like weigh-ins, and, when we’re on the road, making sure she has a place to change clothes, making sure she gets the food she needs because we always have the food in the locker room after weigh-ins and she can’t go in there. The coaches make sure she has what she needs.”

Being relatively inexperienced, Stem said one of the mental aspects of the sport has been an issue for her.

“I struggle with anxiety,” she admitted. “I feel like when I go out there I’m an outsider. I think ‘What if I lose, what if I embarrass myself ?‘ I care what people think of me. But then I think I’ll just be myself out there and do what I do best.”

Guenot said he understands.

“The mental aspect is a big part of wrestling,’’ he explained. “We have no idea what it’s like to be in her situation. But she has a really strong mindset to do what she’s doing. We’ve told her she can’t go out there timid. She deserves to be out there and she shouldn’t sell herself short.”

The Eagles have two dual meets remaining before they head into the postseason. And after that she’ll hit the freestyle trail where she’ll be competing against girls. Last summer she wrestled in the prestigious Fargo tournament and finished one win away from becoming an All-American.

“My goal is to go there and place this year,” she said. “And eventually my dream is to wrestle in the Olympics.”

Don’t count her out cautioned her grandfather, Lew Craig, who was BEA’s first PIAA champion, winning the 165-pound title in 1968.

“She’s dedicated to it,” he said of her wrestling. “She will not miss a practice. She’s more talented than I was and she’s already wrestled longer than I did. I didn’t start until I was in 10th grade. If she keeps her head together she’s going to be a force.”

This story was originally published February 6, 2020 at 8:00 AM.