Darby Newman wrestles at 125 pounds for Bellefontaine High School. Darby was all set to wrestle her opponent from Stivers High School, when she overheard the boy, Danny, tell one of his teammates that he didn't want to wrestle her because she was a girl. Darby was surprised, because she has two female friends on Stivers, Brandi Boo, and Clarice Mueller-Johnson.
While some girls get intimidated by boys because of their strength, Darby felt very confident before the match. “My coach and I talked before my match about what I needed to do to win my match and going into the match, and I was pretty stoked because he didn't look that strong.” She also wasn't happy that he didn't want to face her. “I was ready to show him I could hold my own even though I was a girl.”
But the match didn't start out well for Darby. The boy took a shot and scored. However his lead was very short lived, as he left his head hang over and Darby flipped him. “ It surprised both of us. But it felt amazing, like no one could beat me!” Darby scored the reversal and started to get back points, but the buzzer beat her. Still, she was up 5-2 after the first period. “I knew I had a nice lead but I still needed more points to win.”
Her opponent chose to be on top to start the second period. “His first move was to try to ride me but again he left his head high, and I flipped him again. I was very excited to throw him again, but very mad when I didn't get the points since we were out of bounds.”
The second period ended with no scoring and Darby still had the three point lead. It was Darby's decision where she wanted to start the third period from, and she chose the top. “I took the top knowing I could ride him, and he wouldn't be able to score off me.” Darby's first move was to slide her legs in, but she got too high and they rolled. However it turned out to be a great move, because, “Somewhere in the middle of rolling, I found a pinning spot and stopped.” The whistle blew and the ref slapped the mat...is what should have happened. “We sat there for more than a minute and the ref didn't call the pin. Finally I let him belly out and I scored three more points. Now I was up 8-2. I put him in a half and threw it again. He tried to fight out of it but couldn't, so we just sat there waiting for the ref to call the pin.” But once again...he didn't.
“It did bother me that the ref didn't call it. It felt like he was not calling it cause I was a girl.” Darby wasn't the only one who thought it was a pin. Danny's teammate Brandi also thought he was covered, “She had him down for a good while. I was surprised the ref didn't call a pin.”
While Darby was disappointed with the refs decision, she was elated with her victory. “Winning 11-2, showed him I could fight. I was pretty stoked with a 11-2 victory.” Darby also thought she wanted it more, “The third period was pretty easy; he was pretty tired after the second.”
The ref then brought both competitors to the middle, and raised Darby's hand. “I felt like I was on top of the world when the ref raised my hand. I was truly glad because I showed a lot of people I could hold my own even after people thought I couldn't win.”
Besides the victory, Darby was also happy she could win in front of Danny's two female teammates. “ Both girls were very happy because they really didn't like that he was talking crap about another female wrestler.”
Even though their team lost, Darby was right, both Brandi and Clarice were thrilled. Brandi said, “Yes, I was rooting for Darby! As a female wrestler, It makes me happy to see another female beat a boy in a match. Especially because I know how hard it is. So it's always great to see a girl do well in this sport because a lot of people say "oh, that's a boy's sport! You can't do that!" As much as I love my teammates, it's pretty cool watching a girl beat their butt.” Clarice added, “It's so uncommon to meet another girl wrestler that every time I do there's a sense of mutual support. In such a challenging and male dominated sport I think us girls need to stick together. I was really happy for her. Even though she'd beaten one of my team mates I was still excited. I'm pretty sure Brandi and I were smiling ear to ear when Darby won.”
As you might expect, one person who wasn't smiling was Darby's opponent Danny. Darby says Danny just sulked the rest of the day, and Darby was not happy about it. “I thought it was very unsportsmanlike like and it kinda made me mad. So what if you lose? Everyone loses at least one time.”
Darby thought that was the end of it, but the next weekend they had to wrestle again. What Darby didn't know was what Danny said after the match. According to Brandi, Danny made several excuses why he lost and said, “If I wrestle her again I'm not going to lose.”
He would get his chance, but Danny was not the only one who was confident. After her semi-easy victory, Darby was bordering on being too cocky. “I laughed and felt ready to take him on again; to show him that I wasn't just lucky the first time.”
The match started and Darby let her emotions get the best of her. “I went into the match way too hot-headed. I thought I was going to beat him pretty badly, and it was going to be easy.”
It wasn't. The first period ended 4-4. “Both my coach and I were surprised that the match was so close,” Darby said. If Darby was surprised how Danny was taking it to her the first period, she was shocked at what happened during the 2nd round. “He took the bottom, got a reversal and two back points to take a 7-4 lead. I was really surprised and very mad about how the match was going.”
After the 2nd period ended, Darby did not think she had a comeback in her. “I was thinking I'm going to lose this. After all this work I was about to give up.”
But a great part about wrestling is the coaching. Darby needed love, but she needed the tough variety. And she thought back to an old coach, whose voice popped into her head and said, “"Newman, work your hardest no matter the fight!"
Right then she got head back in the match. “I started thinking about all the ways I could win the match. I also wasn't about to let my opponent get redemption from last week.”
Unlike last week, Darby realized she couldn't just ride out the period. She needed the points so she chose the bottom. Danny rode her and put her in a full-nelson. The move is illegal and cost her opponent a point. There was one minute left and Darby was still down two. Darby got free to gain another point, but she was still one point behind.
There was 30 seconds left, and Darby screamed to herself, “I need a take down now!” While some wrestlers might panic, Darby was in full control. “We had practiced this scenario in the gym. I had done this before in practice, now it was time to do it for real.” And boom! She shot, and put him on his back to take an 8-7 lead with only 10 seconds left.
Darby thought to herself, “Did I just really win this match?” The refs whistle blew and it was official. Yes she did. Darby won 8-7.
As the wrestlers got up, Danny said something to Darby. The ref heard it and took away a team point from his school. Brandi said that got many of her teammates upset. But Brandi wasn't too upset, because she was proud of Darby. “Danny was furious, but I honestly laughed about it when Darby won a second time against him. I think it was a humbling experience for him. The second time really proved that there was no way she won the first one by an accident or any other stupid excuse Danny used. She won fair and square, twice. I think that was a BIG ego bruiser to him.“
While it was a big ego bruiser to Danny, it was a big ego BOOSTER to Darby. “I felt like I had accomplished something great. Even though it was only one match it was great coming back and doing it twice. The feeling of beating this kid again was amazing. The crowd was cheering and everyone was watching. They knew I didn't get lucky, I showed them I wasn't a female wrestler, I was just a wrestler.”
As for Danny's multiple excuses and comment that he wouldn't lose to her again? “I believe any excuse is just a way to blame someone else for your mistakes. Yes it makes my victory so much sweeter! I will see him again next year and hope to wrestle him again!”
