2013-14 Results and Media Coverage
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OK, Abby Nette.
Pick on someone your own size.
Or at least your own gender.
The Destrehan sophomore made a bit of history this weekend, becoming the first female wrestler to win a match in Division I at the LHSAA state wrestling championships. “I’m sure the whole arena could hear me screaming for her,” said Desiree Nette, Abby’s mom. “I wasn’t sure if she could do that in high school. High school boys are so strong so I was a little worried. So I was thrilled when she penned him.” |
It was one of two victories for Nette (both by pins) over the weekend. She lost her opening match in the 138-pound weight class, then won her next two before losing and being eliminated.
“I think it solidifies the fact that women wrestlers need to be taken seriously,” said Destrehan coach Clay Harding.
“These girls who stick it out and make it to this level work hard. I would dare to say they work even harder because they know they are facing an uphill battle.”
Harding describes Nette, one of three female wrestlers on his team, as your typical 16-year old girl.
“She’s just your typical silly sophomore girl at the school, just like any other sophomore,” Harding said. “But when she is on the mat, she’s pretty serious.”
So what makes your typical teenager decided to wrestle.
Well, for that, you have to rewind the clock 10 years.
That’s when John Nette, a former state champion at Bonnabel in the late 70s, took his daughter to her first state wrestling meet.
“I was just 6 years old, and I just fell in love with the sport,” said Nette.
At 16, Nette is a 10-year veteran in the sport.
But wrestling didn’t come easy early on, says her dad.
“The first year she did it she smiled and thought it was fun, but then she got her butt beat,” John Nette said. “Then she realized it was serious and start to catch on. From that point on she started to assert herself.”
She won the girls national title in her age group in 2011 in a tournament in Oklahoma City.
“She had been wrestling boys mostly, so when it was time to wrestle girls at nationals it was almost easy to her,” John Nette said.
She took the past two years off with a back injury, but returned to compete this season for the varsity team.
Harding makes sure Nette doesn’t get any special treatment.
“Anytime someone steps into our practice facility as part of the team, they get treated like everyone else,” Harding said.
“I treat the girls like they are one of the guys. I expect them to give me everything I’ve got. “I am honest with them and won’t give them a false sense of hope.”
The boys she wrestles against don’t treat her any differently either.
“They are a little rough with me and manhandled me a little bit,” she said. “After this tournament this weekend, they won’t treat me any different at all.”
Perhaps that feistiness and skills comes from her dad, who described himself as a “living legend” in wrestling.
“It’s no secret that her dad is a fiery guy, and you can see that in her,” Harding said.
Nette also plays softball, where she stars at first base and in the outfield, but says her first love is wrestling.
She would like to wrestle in college come day.
But first things first.
She would like to win an LHSAA state championship.
“There are a handful of guys out there that she doesn’t like that she has been going up against for years, and she wants revenge,” Harding said.