Sistad follows in the steps of her sisters, competes in male-dominated sports

Even before the University of Iowa announced last week it will become the first Power 5 school to add a women’s wrestling program in the 2023-24 season, one Creston Community High School student had her mind set at wrestling at the collegiate level.

Savannah Sistad, now a sophomore, started wrestling as a young child. It’s a sport she watched her older sisters, Summer and Sadie, participate in, as well.

Sistad has never looked at sports as a boy sport or girl sport.

“We were signed up for every sport and stuck with the ones we found fun,” she said.

Wrestling isn’t the only male dominated sport Sistad plays. She joined her middle school football team in seventh grade.

“We’ve always watched football as a family,” she said. “It wasn’t a sport I got a chance to play, so I thought I’d try it out and it kind of just stuck.”

Sistad said her family’s favorite team is the Green Bay Packers because her grandpa lives in Wisconsin.

Creston Community High School head football coach Brian Morrison, who has worked with Sistad since she was in middle school, said she blends in well on the offensive and defensive line and she’s coached the same as her teammates.

“Once you put a helmet on, I don’t think any coach on our team coaches her any differently. The expectations are the same during practice,” he said.

Morrison described Sistad as a quiet person who is fiercely competitive.

“She’s very competitive,” he said. “Anytime you have a girl play a sport that the majority is played by males, you have to be competitive. No sport is easy, but football, what it entails as far as the contact and physical play, you have to be competitive, otherwise I don’t think it would be very fun.”

The physicality of football may be why some girls choose not to play it, but Sistad said she loves “rough housing” with her teammates. Morrison said girls also have other extracurricular options and often choose to participate in sports their friends play.

“They grow up and get involved with volleyball and that happens in the same season,” he said.

Sistad said there are benefits to playing non-traditional sports.

“It opens up your options. There are things people don’t think about,” she said. “I never thought I’d be in male dominated sports. Usually girls would go out for soccer of softball, but when you play sports like this it really opens up options in like entertainment or college opportunities.”

Sistad has been practicing at Grand View University with a handful of other high school students and hopes to wrestle there on scholarship someday.

Her coach believes Sistad can do whatever she sets her mind to.

“She’s a pleasure to have in practice. She’s very coachable, she works hard and I think she enjoys being a part of the football team. Not just playing, but being a part of it.”

Physically, her only focus is to improve with each practice, match and game. For her, the biggest difference in men’s and women’s athletics is in strength training.

“In middle school there wasn’t any difference whatsoever. But when high school comes and the weights start kicking in, there is a little more difficulty. Their upper body strength is a lot more stronger than girls naturally is, so you have to shift where your focus is on your strengths to outperform. We are stronger in our core, hips and legs more. So you have to shift your focus to outperform when it comes to upper body strength.”

Through the years, Sistad has enjoyed her experience wrestling or playing football with the Panthers. She said she’s welcomed and incredibly supported by her teammates and coaches. She encourages other girls to pursue whatever sport interests them.

“If you think you can do it and you really want to and you think it would be fun, go for it,” she said.