SIDNEY, NE — Hundreds of girls across Nebraska are making history this year. 

"I was actually really stoked when I found out because I've been doing this for a few years and I like wrestling girls more than boys," Sidney wrestler Jadyn Cottam said. "I was happy we had our own team."

The first ever season of NSAA sanctioned girls wrestling in Nebraska is underway. Many schools like Sidney are excited for the future.

"I think it's really awesome the girls have gained so much confidence to join an agressive, kind of, team and build up to make their own team," Sidney wrestler Ciena McKenzie said. 

Just because the sport is newly sanctioned, doesn’t mean everyone is new to the sport. Multiple members of Sidney’s girls wrestling squad have experience through federation wrestling. Still, high school competition will present new challenges.

"It's nerve-wracking," Sidney wrestler Saphira Whitley said. "It's kind of the same people we've been with for the past few years so it's not that bad, but it's looks so much more harsh and aggressive."

At practice, the more experienced helped out the newcomers. Sidney Head Wrestling Coach Beau McConnell says actions like that will only help grow the sport.

"These girls deserve the same opportunity to compete in this sport as anybody else," he said. "I'm glad the NSAA has sanctioned it. You can see that growth and they get the opportunity to compete at the state level."

McConnell says there’s about 750 girls out for wrestling across the state. It’s just year one. 

The girls on his  team looking forward to taking advantage of that new opportunity.

"It means a lot because we're the first actual team for the girls for Sidney High," Whitley said. "I think it's really cool and dope because it hasn't happened before. We're making history right now."