Tinley Park Bulldogs boys youth wrestling coach Mickey Griffin is stepping down after 15 years of helping produce some of the top wrestlers in the area and state.
He never imagined that his final state champion would be a girl.
Eighth grader Jade Hardee is such a special wrestler that in January he had her working out with the Bulldogs boys team and joined Bulldogs girls coach Jamie Ruggio Hubbard in overseeing Hardee’s development.
Hardee became the first person from Tinley Park to win an Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation girls state championship when she won the 93-pound division March 9 at the BMO Center in Rockford, needing just 42 seconds to pin her opponent in the title match.
It was a big accomplishment, but Hardee was not jumping around and going crazy after the referee’s hand smacked the mat.
“I was pretty cool about it, I didn’t do any of that stuff,” Hardee said. “I’m the type where if I could have done a little better in a match, I’m a little bit harder on myself. But then the next time I know to give it my all.”
Griffin, a former wrestler at Purdue, never envisioned 15 years ago that this is how his career was going to end. The sport was dominated by males with a few females here and there popping up into the scene and getting scorned for it.
Now, it has grown to the point where the Illinois High School Association has recognized girls wrestling for three years.
“It’s exciting for the sport,” Griffin said. “It’s great because it provides girls a brand new opportunity that wasn’t really there before.
“Why can’t a girl be involved in a physical sport? Why can’t a girl participate in something that will help her defend herself? Why was that always so taboo?”
He said allowing girls to wrestle was something that was long overdue.
Hardee wholeheartedly agrees and she is trying to get some of her friends involved.
“I like seeing how a boy-dominant sport is going to girls,” she said. “I feel like when people think of wrestling, they think of boys and now they are going to start to think of girls, too.”
The Southland has enjoyed some success on the high school level, sending many athletes to the state meet.
Homewood-Flossoor’s Attalia Watson-Castro won a state title at 130 at the inaugural IHSA state meet in 2022 and won a 135-pound title in 2023. Also in 2023, H-F’s Ini Odumoso won at 190.
This year, Lockport sophomores Morgan Turner (110) and Claudia Heeney (130) won state championships.
Turner’s triumph came a year after competing at Bremen and making history by becoming the first girl in state history to earn a medal in the boys meet when she took third at 106 in Class 2A.
Will Hardee, who has wrestled boys on the youth level, make some more history when she gets to high school? That’s to be determined, but she plans to attend Andrew High School and join the District 230 co-op team that also includes athletes from Sandburg and Stagg high schools.
Hardee has occasionally practiced with the District 230 wrestlers, some who are five years older than she is.
“I do pretty well, actually,” she said. “I practiced against a junior and I was finishing my shots and I was strong.
“And I won against a freshman.”
After participating in jujitsu most of her life, Hardee started wrestling a couple of years ago.
Griffin was impressed the first time he saw her wrestle in January.
“She came to my attention early in the season this year,” Griffith said. “There were some competitions that had boys and girls wrestling and I saw her in one of those tournaments and was immediately very impressed.
“She was very aggressive and had a high level of skill. That’s what caught my eye – her intensity and aggression.”
Hardee said she loves the individual nature of wrestling.
“A lot of other sports are a team effort,” she said. “When you get on the mat, it’s just you. You just forget about everything.
“I like how it’s not just one move or one thing you are focusing on. You are focusing on a lot of things.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
