This season, the wrestling room feels different. In her third year on the team, senior Alyssa Sukharenko isn’t just stepping onto the mat; she’s stepping into a leadership role.
Sukharenko is the only female wrestler out of fourteen on the varsity team. This year, she is a captain alongside senior Manny Tolkoff and junior Liam Christ.
According to head coach Brandon Bruttomesso, the high school was the first public school in the United States to offer a girls wrestling program. In past years, the team has included more female wrestlers.
Sukharenko said she found it difficult to be one of the only girls at the start, but now sees the positive effects of her unique experience.
“My first two years, it did feel kind of isolating. All the guys had things to talk about, relate about,” Sukharenko said. “But, honestly, wrestling guys actually makes you better than wrestling girls, so I think it is a privilege to be able to wrestle them and learn from them.”
Bruttomesso said Sukharenko had many traits and qualities that were appealing and made her stand out to him.
“She was the most committed; she showed up every day, and she was ready to work hard,” Bruttomesso said. “She’s not the most loud person, but that doesn’t preclude her from being a leader in the room.”
Sophomore Sidney Samuels joined the wrestling team his freshman year. When he heard Sukharenko had been chosen for captain, he said he was happy since he knew she would improve the team.
“She’s a good leader. She’s very focused on wrestling. Alyssa will help the team get better and become more connected while we improve upon things that we need to do physically and mentally,” Samuels said.
According to Sukharenko, a big challenge was to build up the confidence to start wrestling and stay with it.
“My proudest memory was stepping into the room for the first day,” Sukharenko said. “Being able to stick with this really difficult sport and being one of two girls on the team, that’s my proudest moment.”
Bruttomesso said that despite Sukharenko being one of the only girls, she is still a core part of the team and is treated with equal respect.
“The team sees when she wrestles that she’s a dominant wrestler, and regardless of it being majority males, they still look at her as just another wrestler,” Bruttomesso said.
Showing up is an important quality of Sukharenko, Bruttomesso said. He said that she is dependable not only in wrestling, but in all other aspects of her life.
“She’s consistent in everything that she does: she’s consistent coming into practice, she’s consistent in the way that she’s drilling, she’s consistent in the way that she’s constantly looking to always better herself,” Bruttomesso said. “I think that’s incredibly important as a leader.”
