By Kaponi Vakalahi
Southern Virginia University has recently added a new sports program: the Women’s Wrestling Team coached by Jessica Casperson. Coach Casperson has many years of experience in the sport of wrestling and SVU is very lucky to have her.
The wrestlers are very pleased to have her and to get the program started. One of the wrestlers is new to the sport of wrestling. Shakinah Chan is from San Obispo, CA. She decided to join the wrestling team because it gives her something to do other than school work. Being on the wrestling team helps her stay active and stay in shape which is something that is really important to her. Shakinah also wanted to experience the collegiate level competition. Even though it’s her first year wrestling, she enjoys being with the team and the coach that leads them. She had the opportunity to wrestle this past weekend in North Carolina for the first time. When asked about how she felt about wrestling for the first time, she mentioned how tired she felt afterwards. Her opponent was experienced, but Shakinah put up a fight. Even though it wasn’t the outcome she wanted, she was grateful for the experiences that came with it.
A veteran in the sport of wrestling, Dusti Casperson, is the daughter of Coach Casperon. Dusti was able to perform super well in the wrestling tournament. Dusti placed second place, and she was super stoked especially since it was the first tournament that Women Wrestling participated in program history. Dusti gave a miracle story on how she was really close to not being cleared to wrestle due to a hyper extension on her elbow from practice. She thought that she wouldn’t be able to participate, but the day before the tournament she received great news that she was cleared. With great news, she was able to compete and took 2nd place in the tournament.
This is the official first year that the Women’s Wrestling Team is competing and they do have a few meets here at SVU. Be sure to be there to support them! Here is a link to their schedule:
https://knightathletics.com/sports/womens-wrestling
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