South Brunswick Girl Proving Wrestling Isn't Just a Man's World

Wrestling is often thought of as a sport predominantly for males, but one township girl is working to shatter those conceptions as she continues to achieve her mat dreams.

Crystal Luongo-Hyatt, a fifth-grader at Cambridge Elementary School, competed in the International Girls Freestyle Wrestling tournament in Canada on Feb. 12,with Women Only Wrestling (WOW) out of Philadelphia, PA. Crystal took first place in the tournament and took home a Gold Medal in the 76-lbs bracket. 

"It was a really nice experience to win gold in the tournament, but it was really difficult," Crystal said.  "But I kept trying and never gave up, so I really felt like I deserved the gold medal."

Crystal's aspirations to compete in wrestling began by watching her older brother wrestle in the South Brunswick PAL's recreation league.

"Her brother really enjoyed the PAL program so that exposed her to something she wanted to try and she went out for the team in the first grade," said Crystal's mother Geri Luongo.  "I was thinking it wasn't a good idea and I tried to entice her to take more dance classes.  But she wanted to try it and I'm a believer that if my kids want to try something I'm not going to block them.  I had hoped she would get tired of it, but that wasn't the case."

As Crystal began wrestling, she proved to be a quick learner.  As one of three girls in the PAL program, Crystal was often faced with going head-to-head with boys.

"I was sitting up in the stands with a despaired look on my face," Luongo said. "When I talked to the coach I said I was worried she may get hurt.  But he said it's not her you have to worry about because she's hurting the boys."

For Crystal, earning respect for her grappling prowess from her peers has been a mixed bag.

"The boys I wrestle with give me respect but some boys at my school think it's a joke," she said.  "So my PAL friends that I wrestle with tell them I'm really good. My friends believe that I don't have to prove anything.  The boys who don't know a thing about wrestling think it's a joke, but the boys who know wrestling take me seriously when I beat them."

As Crystal has gotten older, the challenge of wrestling boys has become more difficult as they start to become stronger than her, which forced Crystal to alter her approach.  

"I used to use muscle but now I use technique against the boys and use their own weight against them because they got stronger," she said.  "I just love to compete, but it can be hard because they try to muscle girls around, so for me, I use their weight against them."

Luongo said participating in the sport has been a huge boost to her daughter's self confidence and has helped to broaden her horizons.  She said Crystal's diverse interests have led to some interesting scenes, as Crystal rushes from wrestling practice to sing with the Princeton Girls Choir.  

"She had to change from a wrestling singlet into a gown and then we rushed to the Princeton Auditorium to sing," Luongo said.  "Neither group understands the other one.  Crystal didn't want her wrestling friends to see her all dressed up.  When she got to sit with her choral friends she showed them the medal she won and they all thought it was weird.  So it's kind of a double-edged sword."

Once she becomes too old for PAL wrestling, Crystal's options are limited with the sport.  So she's hoping enough girls will become interested in wrestling that South Brunswick will be able to start a girls only recreational wrestling league.  Looking to the future, Crystal said she has numerous interests, so she doubts she will pursue the sport into her adulthood.

"I don't think I will want to still be wrestling when I'm an adult," she said.  "I just hope I can continue wrestling through middle school, but after that I'm not sure if I'll want to do it anymore."

In the meantime, Crystal is hoping enough interest can be generated in South Brunswick and the surrounding area so that more options open up for girls who want to try wrestling.

"I would say to other girls that you have an equal chance of winning whether it's versus a guy or another girl," she said.  "Once the match starts, it's just you and your opponent.  So it doesn't matter if you're a girl, you can still win."

For more information on Woman Only Wrestling click here.  For more information on getting involved with wrestling or other South Brunswick PAL sports click here.  

South Brunswick Patch is seeking suggestions from readers for individual kids, youth groups, teens and even sports teams that wow us with their accomplishments. We want to hear about these amazing children and teens and select one each week as the Patch Whiz Kid. Submit your nomination in our comment box below or e-mail the information to davy.james@patch.com. Be sure to include all of the following information:

▪                Nominator's Name

▪                Nominator's E-Mail

▪                Whiz Kid's Name

▪                Whiz Kid's Age

▪                Whiz Kid's School

▪                Whiz Kid's Accomplishment

▪                Whiz Kid's Key to Awesomeness (what made him/her successful?)

▪                A high-resolution JPG photo of your Whiz Kid

Questions? E-mail South Brunswick Patch Editor Davy James at davy.james@patch.com.