Kari Gibb/MDN
Minot eighth grader Madisyn Racine, seen in previous action, is one of the Majettes ‘senior’ leaders in matches wrestled and won under the fairly new program at Minot High.
Girls wrestling is the fastest growing highschool sport according to the United States Wrestling Foundation (USWF). North Dakota was the 30th state to sanction high school girl’s wrestling in 2021.
Since it has been sanctioned, girls wrestling has taken off. Current polls put the Minot High girls wrestling team in the top spot for state and with the state tournament coming up soon high school wrestlers are all trying to cut that last pound of weight and tweak the latest technique.
Mitch Meyer, the Minot High girls wrestling coach, started the girls wrestling team in 2021. After coaching boys in schools all over the state since 2009 Meyer took on a new challenge building a girls wrestling team from scratch. Working mostly with girls who had never stepped foot on a wrestling mat, Meyer coached the girls to a first place team finish in Minot High’s first season.
Gaining numbers wasn’t too difficult for the Majettes. In their second season competing Minot High had just over 40 girls on their team.
Coach Meyer was asked why the Minot girls wrestling program grew in numbers so quickly. Meyer answered, “Wrestling is a whole new experience for the girls…you wrestle girls your own weight so there’s really no disadvantage… with a good work ethic and dedication you can catch up [to the more experienced wrestlers].”
Girls Wrestling is only in its fourth year of being sanctioned in North Dakota. Providing ample opportunities for new athletes at the collegiate, high school and youth levels.
This year for the 2024-2025 season Minot High competes with 28 girls. Many of the girls have been placing at tournaments across the state so far this season.
The most recent tournament for the Minot girls was the Bismarck Rotary Classic. Minot High went home with the team win and with nine placers. With 41 teams present, including eight of North Dakota state teams, the Rotary gave the Minot High girls a good example of what to expect at the state tournament.
Coach Meyer and his team captains, senior Haleigh Carr and junior Payton Russel, have high hopes for the state tournament this year. With 11 girls ranked for the state tournament and the Minot High team ranked at number one for both dual teams and individual teams, they have the polls behind them.
Such high expectations can be intimidating to the rookies on the team as many of the girls on the team are fairly new to the sport.
Sophomore from Nedrose, Maycee Boyce was asked what Minot High needed to improve to keep their girls high in the rankings. “I think we need to work on our mental toughness… not get scared of what they’ve done and just go out there and wrestle,” said Boyce.
Being one of Minot High’s newest wrestlers Boyce may have cracked the code on how to keep up her mental toughness on the mats. In only her second year wrestling Maycee has already won several tournaments this season and placed second at the Rotary.
Boyce has worked her way up to second place at 155-lbs. in the rankings giving her a good shot to be one of Minot High’s highest placers at the state tournament. Beside Boyce in the rankings are freshman Ella Brown at 100-lbs and eighth grader Madisyn Racine at 118 both ranked second for Minot High.
Minot High will travel to Turtle Mountain Community High School for a dual Tuesday, January 21. The Majettes are away again for a dual against Jamestown on Thursday, January 23. The Minot High girls will also attend the Rugby Invitational Tournament on Saturday, January 25.
