Sports

Female Wrestler from Brighton to Compete in Mexico

Brittany Harvey is fresh off a successful run at the U.S. national high school tournament, and is setting her sights on a top three finish at the Pan-Am Championship.

When Brent Harvey's daughter wanted to start wrestling when she was in sixth grade, he says he didn't even know girls were participating in the sport. Now, five years later, she's one of the best in the nation for her age.

Brittany Harvey, a junior at , is heading to the Pan-American Championship in Campeche, Mexico on Aug. 3. She'll be competing with other female wrestlers from the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the rest of the Western Hemisphere.

Harvey earned the right to go after a successful run at the high school national tournament in Fargo, ND, two weeks ago. She placed second in the Cadets division (Wrestlers born in 1995 and 1996) and eighth in the Junior division (Wrestlers born after 1995 until age 20). She was invited to the Pan-Am by the coaches at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University, where she's trained before.

Find out what's happening in Brightonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Harvey got into wrestling when her dad started coaching youth wrestling in his spare time when she was in sixth grade. Both Brittany and her sister Brook, a freshman at BHS, wanted to try it out. Brook also continues in the sport, posting a 22-2 record at this year and placing second in a different national tournament in 2008.

"As soon as my children found out I was going to go coach a youth program, they brought home a brochure and it said boys and girls on there," Brent Harvey said. "At that time I honestly didn't know that girls were wrestling."

Find out what's happening in Brightonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Not a lot of girls do wrestle, Brittany Harvey said. She estimated that just over 200 do so at the high school level in Michigan. Other than that, she said there's really no other difference between the two genders in wrestling, which may explain why she ended up with the boys at BHS.

She walked on to the JV wrestling team freshman year, but her sophomore year was wiped out due to a separated collarbone. She also wrestled when she was at , being the only  girl both times.

"I think it's hard being the only girl on the team," she said."The boys are all friends, and I really don't hang out with them because I have my own little group of friends."

However, being the lone girl and having two seasons wiped out by injury, the other being in eighth grade with a broken thumb, hasn't stopped her success. To make the varsity squad this year, she'll have to beat the wrestler on the team in her 154-pound weight class. With the way things have been going, she could very well achieve that.

"She's probably as hard a worker as any of the boys that are on her high school program," Brent Harvey said. "When she's in practice, she's working really hard."

Brittany Harvey is setting a lofty goal for her trip to Mexico: placing in the top three. Her second place finish in the Cadet division at the Fargo tournament is feeding her confidence going into the Pan-Am.

"I went toe-to-toe with the national champ at my weight class, so I feel pretty good about going to Mexico," she said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here