Jackson girls wrestling sends record-setting trio to state

The early years of the Jackson girls' wrestling program have been a family affair.

The Hodges and Metzger sisters have carried the flag as the backbone of the program. Kayla Hodges was the first Indian wrestler to appear in the state tournament in 2021 and now her younger sister, Kassie Hodges, gets to finish her career in Columbia.

But she is not alone. This time, a school record three girls are going to the state tournament on Friday.

"I feel like it's awesome because really, since for basically the past like two or three years, it's just been one girl going," Hodges said. "So I feel like it being three girls going to stay it's like a really big accomplishment for Jackson wrestling."

Joining Hodges are senior sisters Gracie and Mallorie Metzger. Mollorie became the program’s first two-time district champion in the Class 2 District 1 Tournament on Feb. 11 at Northwest.

She said this tournament experience will be more special because her sister will be alongside her.

"Last year, I was by myself and it was tough because I was kind of a loner," Mollorie said. "But now that I have my sister Gracie there, it just feels more comfortable. It just feels more fun to me, and I know that I have her support and she can be there and experience the whole experience with me. It just means that much more to me that we can just be there together because we always do things together."

"I'm glad that we both get to experience it at the same time because not a lot of people get to do it with their sister," Gracie said.

The girls' division has grown immensely since the trio of seniors started wrestling.

"I feel like girls wise, it has grown so much," Hodges said. "It's so crazy because I remember when me and my sister first started it was just very unpopular for girls to like wrestle. So now seeing like how big the community of girls has grown. It's just honestly incredible."

"There are a lot more girls now," Mallorie said. "Our girls' team is a lot bigger and the other local schools have a bigger team. Now there are girls that are super young that are starting to get into it too."

"People are becoming more aware that Jackson has a girls' wrestling team and there's just a lot more support that's grown a lot," Gracie said.

While the girls only compete against each other, they still practice with their male teammates, based on weight class. Hodges said training with boys has been beneficial.

"I feel like I benefit from both because it's definitely a different experience between the two," Hodges said. "I feel like with guys, they're a lot stronger, which helps me like put more technique into it whereas, with the girls, it's like basically, I had to try to do a specific skill to get them down. We're basically more technical, I guess."

Hodgers and the Metzger sisters hope to end their careers together on the podium.

"That'd be amazing," Gracie said. "I think that'd be very surreal."

"It would be such a huge accomplishment because, since my freshman year, it has been a dream to just even be qualifying for state," Hodges said. "So I feel like being on the podium would just be like a number one achievement for me."