The Oakmont girls wrestling team just competed in a championship match against Bear River on Jan. 22, 2026, and won with an undefeated season.

For the first time since Oakmont was established in 1966, “the girls team became league champions,” according to Dillan Starkey, a senior member of the team. This is a major milestone for the girls wrestling team– and for the entirety of Oakmont.

When asked how she felt about winning, Starkey replies, “It felt great to be top of the league, as the first wrestling girls team in Oakmont history to be league champions.”

Laurel Harms, a freshmen team member, explains that for her, “wrestling is a great way to get [emotions] out… there’s a better sense of team unity now that [they’ve] won something together.”

And Patrick Bussey, the coach of the team and a teacher at Oakmont, explained that “for [him], it’s not about the winning streak, it’s about getting better.” He also shared his story of coaching his own son, and using that experience, he could easily coach the girls wrestling team, as he wanted to coach again before he retired. 

It’s quite astonishing that this championship wrestling team “started with only six girls,” according to Bussey. The original girls had gotten other freshmen girls to join, doubling the size of the team.

With wrestling being one of the stereotypically male-oriented sports mostly because of its roughhousing aspects, it’s exciting to see women break the long standing stereotype. It’s even more exciting that the girls wrestling team started this season in November.

As for the future of her wrestling career, Harms says that she “plans to wrestle all four years,” and that she’s “going to try for a scholarship.”