As a freshman, Carly Thomas made Bob Jones history by becoming the first girl to win the girls’ state wrestling title. Carly, who defeated her opponents in the first round, had this to say about the state tournament, “My time at state was amazing. It was really fun. I loved that my friends and family gave me all of their support and watched as much as they could. State together was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to do it again.”

Carly has been wrestling for three years and went 15-4 in total and 9-0 against girls in the 2020-21 season. When Carly was asked what she was thinking before the match, she said, “I was thinking about all of the moves that I should do. I kept telling myself I worked so hard to get here and so many others helped me, so I felt like I had to win for everyone that helped me get here.” Thomas wrestled at the 120-pound weight class in the girls’ state tournament hosted at Hoover High School. 

The girls wrestling program in high schools throughout America is smaller and undervalued compared to men’s wrestling. A lot of girls don’t realize the scholarships available for girls wrestling. Thomas had this to say about the importance of girls wrestling “Now that we had a girls state in Alabama I think that the sport will grow.”

After Thomas won her ring, she was congratulated by her teammates and Coach Sweatman, who throughout the week would use Thomas as an example to push yourself, and with the right amount of hard work, anything is possible.