Junior Ashlynn Lynch steps on the mat for herself. The self-driven grit that drives her to wrestle with passion each and every day has turned her into an anchor for her team, undeniably changing the sport of girls wrestling at Northwood.
“In wrestling, everything you do shows,” Lynch said. “If you don’t practice, it shows. No one’s going to care if I win or lose at Masters or State, I have to do it for me. And choosing to put in that effort makes me want to keep getting better for my own sake, not anyone else’s.”
When Lynch decided to join Northwood’s wrestling team as a freshman, she experienced both support and hesitation.
“My dad has always been supportive with sports, especially aggressive sports,” Lynch said. “And my mom was a little bit worried about wrestling since it is an aggressive sport; it’s usually male dominated and that aspect of possibly getting hurt.”
Despite such initial worries, Lynch’s quick rise in reputation and rank was historic. She became the first girl in Northwood history to reach CIF Southern Section Masters Meet in the 140-pound weight division. Now, as captain of the girls wrestling team, she is the one always in her teammates’ corner.
“Ash is not only the girls team captain, but she’s also a really good friend and so nice,” teammate sophomore Kayla Cheung said. “She helps me with anything and answers questions for anybody about anything they need.”
Her leadership coincides with a new wave of interest. This year, Northwood’s girls wrestling team has seen a 50% increase in participation. Lynch hopes her own story motivates even more female athletes.
“I feel like a lot of times, it’s really common for a lot of girls to be scared about joining because they haven’t wrestled before,” Lynch said. “But I feel like the fact that I started as a freshman and I got where I did in the exact same program they’re in, in the exact same environment and team that they’re in, it really helps with knowing that they can do it because we’re in the exact same spot.”
However, she acknowledges that being “the example” and being captain can often put pressure on her performance.
“I definitely do feel pressure in the sense of, ‘You have to do better than you did the year before,’” Lynch said. “And because I got so far into our CIF, that is the standard for me. And if I’m the captain of the girls team, then you kind of have to set that example of always getting better or there’s no point of practice.”
In those moments, she leans on her coach, teammates and family. According to her twin sister junior Braelynn Lynch, their family is always proud and tries to make Lynch’s training a bit easier.
“She’s my twin so we bicker a lot and there’s a lot of jokes thrown around, but in the end I know how hard she works so I always try to help,” Braelynn Lynch said. “If she’s eating a salad, I’ll eat it with her. If she needs to go on a run, I’ll go with her. Occasionally.”
Win or lose, wrestling is Ashlynn Lynch’s mirror. She has anchored herself in the discipline and accountability the sport demands.
“It really makes you think about yourself and about how you’re willing to train for what you want. You might not always love the drilling and the conditioning every day. But at the end of the day it’s still your situation,” Lynch said. “You put yourself in that situation and you gotta stick with it. At the end of the day, it works out.”
