Winnebago's Zeriah George, who last year was the first girls state champion crowned in the state of Nebraska, will aim for back-to-back titles this weekend in York.
FRANCIS GARDLER, Journal Star
Winnebago's Zeriah George (left) works on take-downs with teammate Darian Earth during practice on Wednesday at Winnebago High School.
But as Zeriah George learned a year ago, wrestlers — and specifically girls who wrestle — can be rock stars in this small community, too.
A junior at the time, George made history in becoming Nebraska's first girls state wrestling champion. It happened at the first-ever high school girls state tournament in York, and George was the first to have her hand raised in the finals.
Thirteen others were crowned champs that day, but George was the first.
Her success created buzz in Winnebago. The school held a celebration the following week, and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska council presented George with a jacket on the reservation.
Not long after, the town assembled a billboard to proudly show off their champion.
"Everybody that drove down 77 got to see the billboard," Winnebago wrestling coach Adam Tranmer said. "Right in the middle, smack dab of town."
George also is in the middle of a movement she takes great pride in.
Wrestling continues to gain popularity among high school girls in Nebraska. Tranmer said nearly 190 girls competed last year in the sport, currently a nonsanctioned activity by the NSAA. That number bumped up to almost 300 this season, and many of them will be in York on Friday and Saturday for the second high school state meet, which is put on by the NSWCA.
George will be going for back-to-back state titles. She won at 195 last year and is the top seed at 240 this time.
Winning two state titles "would mean the world, honestly, because I've worked so hard and prepped for a long time," said George, who is one of two girls wrestling at Winnebago this season.
George is happy to be breaking down barriers (she also plays guard for the high school football team). But she was hesitant at first.
She was introduced to the sport through a cousin in junior high.
"At first I didn't like the idea of wrestling because I was scared of what people would think of me," George said.
Same deal with football. George went out for the sport in junior high, but she was timid and scared. That changed with her first game action when she finally got a chance to hit someone.
"It was just the best feeling in the world," George said. "After the game everyone is coming up to me, telling me, 'Good job,' and that's when I knew I'm not like everybody else."
Helping George along the way was Saralee "Cupcake" Suarez, who knew a thing or two about breaking barriers and playing sports dominated by boys.
In 1986, Suarez became the first girl to play high school football in Nebraska while at Winnebago. She became a mentor to George.
"We always talked about football and what she taught me was to not quit," George said. "That quitting turns into a lifestyle."
Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do something, Suarez would tell George. So in addition to football, George went out for wrestling as a freshman, just a couple of years after Tranmer started the program at Winnebago.
"She didn't wrestle a lot, and that's when girls wrestling wasn't too relevant," Tranmer said. "She was mainly wrestling against boys, and so she was about 170 pounds. Wrestling boys as a freshman at 170 is kind of a tough load, so she took her licks her freshman year, that's for sure."
But George wanted it that way. She knew wrestling boys would make her tougher to beat in girls meets.
George placed third at a national tournament following her freshman season, but did not wrestle as a sophomore. Her mentor, "Cupcake," had passed away, "and it just took a big toll on me."
George returned to mat her junior year and lost just one match, and last year's state title only made George want to work harder.
She is at the high school at 6 a.m. every other day lifting weights, she runs on the weekends and she watches film.
"I take notes on myself, on what I should work on, how I should to it better," George said.
She also has taken Winnebago's other girls wrestler, freshman Darian Earth, under her wing, "showing her the ropes."
Tranmer points to George's mental drive. She doesn't want to lose, even to boys. George is 13-0 in girls meets this year, and 12-12 against boys. Though she weighs just under 200 pounds, George is wrestling in the 220-pound class at the NSAA-sanctioned boys meets.
"Being in the room and wrestling only one person is kind of tough, because you know what they're going to do," Tranmer said. "So when she goes to wrestle boys, she just loves to beat them because of that whole idea of, 'Well, you just lost to a girl!' That's what she wants the boys to feel like.
"But when she does lose, she's as mad as a hornet and it takes her 15, 20 minutes to get over it, and then she's like, 'OK, what do I have to do to get better?'"
After wrestling in the girls state tournament this weekend, George will turn her attention to the boys subdistrict tournament later in the season. She'll drop to 195 and take aim at a district berth.
No matter what happens later in the season, George has already left her mark. For girls. For Winnebago. For her team (She was voted team captain).
"I think the first thing is for her community and the Native American culture, it shows that you don't have to sit back and wait for opportunities," Tranmer said. "She's gone out there and done it for herself, and she's showing that girls can be role models and do these one-on-one sports."
And George is happy she gave the sport a chance. Now the sport is giving her a chance. Dixie State, a Division I school in Utah, just offered George a women's wrestling scholarship.
She can soon dream about winning national championships. Sounds like another billboard, right?
"I really do have a lot of people that support me in the sport, more than I realize," she said.
BEST SHOTS FROM WINTER SPORTS
Photos: Our best shots from the winter high school sports season
Reach Clark Grell at 402-473-2639 or cgrell@journalstar.com. On Twitter at @LJSSportsGrell.
Winnebago's Zeriah George, who last year was the first girls state champion crowned in the state of Nebraska, will aim for back-to-back titles this weekend in York.