Girls wrestling became a sanctioned high school sport in Florida this school year, and a Bay area first-year wrestler quickly rose to the top.

The rise of Tasha Matkovich in the wrestling ranks is something longtime coach Russell Schenk has rarely seen.

“A very exciting and unique situation for a first-year wrestler to be able to accomplish this. She’s just scraping the surface of her potential,” Schenk said.

She is the first state champion in Pasco County history and the first 145-pound state champion in the state of Florida.

Tasha became part of an elite group as a wrestling state champion. 

“It felt amazing, it was like all of the adrenaline was finally rushing through me,” she said.

In the past, girls had to either wrestle against boys or take part in a third-party, girls-only season-ending tournament. 

“I was hoping to get all the way to states for the school because the girls division had just opened up,” Matkovich said. “I was the only girl so I wanted to make it as far as possible, to hopefully get more girls into the sport and wanting to join, so that was my main goal for the school to get more people interested.”

The Anclote senior started the season wrestling against the boys.

“To have her work as hard as the guys, she didn’t take any outs, she worked just as hard,” Schenk said. “She had wrestle-offs every week, she had two or three guys in front of her at 145 pounds and all but one week, she’d get beat, but she kept coming back and coming back.”

Tasha had one goal in mind — proving girls can excel in wrestling, too.

“The big thing they ask is, ‘What would you tell the other girls?’” she said. “It’s to not be scared because I’ve talked to a few girls who have been wanting to join, but they don’t know if they’re ready for it. Just do it. It’s not as scary as you think.”

Girls’ participation in wrestling is on the rise not just in Florida, but across the United States. 

Tasha hopes her story inspires other women to give wrestling a try.

“I would say the sky’s the limit,” Schenk said. “Athletically, she has the athletic ability to be an Olympian if she chose to.”