
By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Girls' wrestling is one of the fastest-growing sports in the nation. Combine that with a rich tradition of wrestling and Hoisington, and it's natural a pair of sisters would want to be Lady Cardinal wrestlers. Sophomore Nevaeh Graves already has a state medal, and her freshman sister Trinity Graves has aspirations to do the same. But that's not why Nevaeh began the sport.
"Girls get bullied for their builds," she said. "I got bullied for my build, getting called a 'linebacker.' That pushed me to where, if I'm going be called a linebacker and look like a linebacker, I might as well put some work into it and use that strength against girls on the mat. Since I joined wrestling, I haven't been called a linebacker."

Nevaeh doubles as a varsity cheerleader at Hoisington High School. That comes through at wrestling tournament as she and her teammates dance and have fun during warmups.
"It's not good to go out and not have fun, not laugh, not experience the time you have there," she said. "The time you have in high school goes by so fast that you realize you're losing the time you could have spent with your team. We're losing two of our best girls this year and it's gone by in a flash."
But it's not all giggles. Nevaeh is currently ranked No. 4 at 170 pounds in Class 3-2-1A. She finished second in her first regional competition last year and went on to place sixth at state. At the Cardinal Girls Round Robin earlier this month, she needed just 22 seconds to pin Chaparral senior Taryn Meek, who is currently ranked second.
"I went in, wrestled her, got her down," Nevaeh said. There was a point in the match where I was almost flipped to my back. I was like, 'I can't let this happen. I need to win.'"
Not far behind is little sister, Trinity. Also a member of a Crimson Girls Danceline at HHS, she's posted a 36-15 record with 26 pins in matches on trackwrestling.com. She placed sixth at the Kids State Folkstyle Championships and won the Hoisington Girls Corner Classic in December. She has finished third at her last two tournaments in Nickerson and Osborne.

"I don't look at any of the rankings," Trinity said. "If I'm wrestling a girl, I just go out there and do what I can do what I can to win. If a move doesn't work, I try my best to move to another one that will work. I'm going to keep on having the same confidence I have right now."
Both sisters have high expectations as the season winds down. Hoisington heads north to Russell on Feb. 14-15. Nevaeh will be looking for a return trip to state and Trinity will be looking to qualify for her first state tournament.
