COLLEGE WOMEN’S WRESTLING: Britten weathers ankle sprain yet still grows

Grace Britten was a part of a lot of firsts during her high school girls wrestling experience as the first four-year wrestler at Nodaway Valley, its first state place-winner and first two-time state place-winner, and so on.

Britten, a freshman wrestler at 180 pounds who studies English, continues to pave the way for future women in the sport by participating in it at Wartburg College in Waverly. She had to overcome the obstacle of injury this season but still got 11 matches in and feels hopeful about her position in the sport as she looks toward her sophomore campaign next winter.

“It was definitely a sharp learning curve at first because in college it’s all freestyle, as opposed to high school, where it’s folk-style. There’s a lot of different things you have to be conscious of during a match,” Britten said. “It was still a super valuable experience for me as a freshman coming into an already pretty good program. I’m kind of at the bottom again, which is completely than how it was my last couple of years of high school.”

Britten is reliving the sport starting from the bottom as well. During her junior year of high school, Iowa sanctioned high school girls wrestling. That step was just announced for the NCAA, which has three divisions, and it will take effect next season. Wartburg College competes in Division III.

The Knights went 8-5 in duals this year, but Britten’s time on the mat came in open events where schools aren’t given limits on the number of entries. There were seven wrestlers at her weight on the team, so she faced plenty of competition from upperclassmen for starting spots in duals. She saw that as a benefit to her progress and ability to learn.

Getting an early-season win was crucial to Britten’s confidence. On Nov. 9 at the Waldorf University Open, she got a first-period pin for was her first collegiate win.

“That early-season win gave me confidence that I was getting back on track. It was a rude awakening [to start college]. Mid-November, I sprained my ankle, so that put me out for about three competitions, and they’re a lot more spread out in college. I missed our big tournament down in Vegas in December for my brother’s wedding, so I didn’t wrestle for about two months,” Britten said. “It was really hard to keep my mental fortitude up there, to get in the room and work hard every day, even though I knew I wasn’t going to wrestle for another several weeks.”

Upon her return, Britten wrestled in a tournament at Cornell College. She didn’t experience the results she wanted at first, but she kept plugging away. Through a conversation with her coach, she got on the right track. By the Grand View Open Feb. 1, she was feeling much better and went 2-2 in matches wrestled there, getting victories by first-period pin and technical fall.

Going into the offseason, Britten is eager to spend more time with her team and take advantage of unlimited access to offseason resources like the wrestling room and weight room.

“I felt I ended the season on a much better note and was wrestling more like I was when I ended high school, aggressiveness-wise and my confidence,” Britten said. “That made me feel a lot better about my season as a whole.”