BIRMINGHAM — Don’t let the smell of perfume or the bright smiles fool you when you step into the gymnasium. These girls can wrestle.
Published March 18, 2024
“One day I just came home from school and told my mom and dad I wanted to wrestle,” Koch said. “They were a little bit shocked. They were like, ‘What? Why?’”
Now a three-time state qualifier and earning fifth at the state finals this year, Koch is the veteran leader coach Joseph Jones is blessed to have on a girls side with 10 wrestlers to its name, which is one of the bigger female rosters in the surrounding counties.
Koch is Jones’ recruiter and poster child for why girls throughout Groves High School should give wrestling a try.
“I think it’s just girls wanting to try something different,” Jones said. “They see my one girl Sammie, who’s been doing it for a while, and they see the success she’s having, and they want to try something different. They feel like they can compete and do the sport too.”
Koch punched her state finals ticket with a third-place performance at regionals and followed it up with a 3-2 record at the state finals to take fifth March 2 at Ford Field.
Last year’s state finals trip didn’t turn out the way Koch had hoped after a referee error landed Koch a DQ in the blood round, and she said there was unfinished business left on the table.
“There definitely was,” Koch said. “Last year going into states, everybody had high hopes in me placing. That happening took a toll on me and definitely prompted me to work harder in the offseason.”
Groves and Jones have been big proponents of all-girl tournaments, hosting the Tri-County all-girls and the Groves Lady Falcons tournaments this year, and Koch said that’s been fun to watch and take part in.
“I feel like when I go to girls tournaments, it’s a lot more friendly,” Koch said. “There’s people in my bracket that will wrestle against each other and then end up being friends later on. Even at states, there was a girl I wrestled who I ended up becoming super good friends with the next day, whereas when I go to boys tournaments, it’s not like that at all.”
While Groves already sports one of the bigger teams around, Koch and her recruiting skills will be put to work one last time as she enters her senior season.
Koch said her typical recruiting pitch is something along the lines of, “You should wrestle. I love wrestling.” As simple as it is, it’s clearly been somewhat effective, but Koch said she just wants to share her love and passion for wrestling with all of the new girls.
“It’s felt really good to bring other girls into the sport,” Koch said. “I remember my freshman year, there were three girls on my team, and we were all first-year wrestlers. The next year I became a captain, and I thought it was just super cool to go up and see these new girls joining the team and see them fall in love with wrestling the way I fell in love with wrestling. It’s kind of amazing to be a part of it.”
Groves also earned contributions on the girls side from Avery Betts, Isabel De Demo-Choi, Kennedy Schindler, Sarah Alexander — who was the Macomb County champion in the 235-pound weight class — Amari Cochran-McKay, Semaya Jackson, Zora Wise and Induvari Hettiarachchi.
