When Allen Newton began coaching at Carrollton High School, the idea of starting a girls wrestling program was the furthest thing from his mind. Now he doesn’t want to do anything else.
“I had zero intentions of starting a girls team, but now I don’t care if I ever coach another guys team,” Newton said. “I love what I’m doing. There’s something special about these kids.”
Newton has taken a diverse group — athletes from softball, lacrosse and cheerleading and a few newcomers — and crafted the most successful program in the GHSA’s fastest-growing sport. There are 328 schools that compete in girls wrestling, up from 264 when the sport was sanctioned for 2022-23.
Credit: Jim Lussier
Credit: Jim Lussier
The Trojans finished second in the first traditional state tournament in 2023 — although the championship was later vacated by the winning team because of ineligible competitors — and won it all in 2024. Carrollton had six girls place at the state meet a year ago.
Carrollton won the state duals — which emphasize total team strength through the 14 weight classes — both years it has been contested. The Trojans beat Greenbrier 49-27 in the championship match in 2024.
Interest in girls wrestling started to take off once it became an official GHSA event and girls no longer had to compete against boys. There are 14 weight classes, the same as the boys, and they follow the same rules.
Cadence Wilson, a senior who wrestles in the 105-pound division, was approached by Newton as an eighth grader. After being worn down by his persistence, she finally asked her parents for permission.
“It took a lot of convincing to let me do it,” she said. “And when I came to practice the first day I actually hated it. But then I got really close with the team and began to really enjoy the sport.”
Now she’s gotten her mother, Kelly, to watch a match.
“I’ve been doing this for four years now, and this is the first time my mom has actually been able to finish watching one of my matches,” Wilson said. “She was scared about her little girl doing something like this. She would always turn her head or walk away.”
Credit: Brian Carmicheal
Credit: Brian Carmicheal
Sibling rivalry got Bailey Moore into the sport. She was a cheerleader who decided to wrestle after her sister Bella joined the team. “I wanted to be better than her,” she said.
Moore, who competes in the 130-pound division, has been able to transfer the self-discipline skills learned from wrestling into the classroom. She already has 30 credits, meaning she will be a sophomore when she enters college next fall.
Newton prefers to recruit girls such as Wilson, Moore and Madison Cooley, another lacrosse player, who have played other sports and are accustomed to being coached.
“I coach hard, so I look for girls that can handle it,” he said. “From my experience, girls who have never done any other sport don’t usually last. I’m not going to turn any kid away, but I prefer people that have played other sports. I treat them like a grown man going off to war, but it’s worked out well for us.”
He’s not joking, said Wilson, who now plans to wrestle in college.
“If I imagine the hardest thing I’ve ever done and then times that by a million, those are our practices,” Wilson said. “I’m kind of kidding, but I’m kind of not. Our practices are so much fun, but they’re 2½ hours every single … and don’t even start on those morning practices. We put a lot of work in and it pays off, but sometimes those practices …”
Credit: Brian Carmicheal
Credit: Brian Carmicheal
Cooley, who wrestles in the 155-pound division, said, “You get beat up at practice every single day, but there’s something about getting your hand raised for all that work. It’s just very rewarding and exciting.”
And Carrollton has continued to grow its footprint by starting a middle school program. The varsity girls help coach the young girls, who all show up at the matches to watch their mentors and help create an exciting match environment that Newton said is akin to “a big-time softball game in a gym.”
Carrollton will defend its state dual championship Jan. 25 at Lumpkin County High School in Dahlonega. The Trojans will compete in the state traditional matches Feb. 13-15 at the Macon Coliseum.
“It’s a lot of pressure because we’re already back-to-back state champions,” Cooley said. “It’s talked about a lot, whether Carrolton will make it a three-peat. We say at practice that “pressure is a privilege,” and I think that applies to the situation with state.”
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