Bailey Copeland paves the way for Sand Springs girls’ wrestling

A version of this story was originally published in the Sand Springs Leader.

Something special has been happening in the Oklahoma wrestling community. For the first time ever, the OSSAA is offering fully-sanctioned girls’ wrestling, opening the door to a sport that many girls have never even considered. One girl who is excited about the future of female wrestling is Bailey Copeland.

Copeland, a Sand Springs sixth grader, recently became the first-ever Lady Sandite to win a youth State Championship, and she did it twice. First she won the OKUSA title in January, then brought home the OKWA gold in February.

What makes her extra special? She’s only been wrestling for a few months. Initially her dad was skeptical of letting her wrestle, but he finally let her go to a few practices this fall to try it out. 

“She went to practice, then left there and went to play basketball,” said Josh Copeland. “She almost threw up twice, but she loved it. She wanted to wrestle.” Bailey quickly made the decision to drop basketball and pursue wrestling instead. She also plays softball in the spring.

“She’s a natural,” says Josh. “It’s just something you don’t see every day. She gives 100% in the room every night. She picks up things so quickly. I taught her a three-quarter stack at home and she went out and pinned somebody with it.”

Bailey comes from a large wrestling community. Her father, Josh, was a wrestler and MMA fighter. Her brother Kyler wrestled through elementary before focusing on baseball. Sand Springs as a town has seen more success in varsity wrestling than any other sport. 

She has been training with the Keystone Kids, the Sand Springs youth program, part time, but also with the Hurricane Wrestling Academy in Tulsa. At Hurricane she has other girls to train with, but in Sand Springs she’s the only girl in the room.

Charles Page High School has yet to put the wheels in motion on a girls’ varsity team, but discussions are happening. Broken Arrow became the first district in the state to do so, and many other schools have girls training and competing alongside the boys the same way they’ve been allowed to for years. Creating a girls program in Sand Springs would require approval from the Board of Education, and they would need to find space for a separate locker room for the girls. 

Bailey won’t be the first girl on the Sand Springs wrestling team. Just two years ago Hayli Jeffries won the Union preseason tournament as a sophomore. But she could be a member of the first all-girls team in Sand Springs, if other girls step up and continue to take interest in growing the sport.

Growing the sport is especially important to Bailey. “I want to try to get more girls to wrestle. If you think about wrestling, just go ahead and try it and see if you like it.” She looks up to Olympic gold medalist Helen Maroulis for inspiration, and her favorite part of wrestling is making boys cry.

Although competing at the high school level is already on her mind, for now Bailey has two more seasons of junior high wrestling to focus on. Next up for the young star will be the Reno Nationals April 15-18th at the Tulsa Convention Center.

For more information on Sand Springs youth wrestling, follow “Keystone Kids Wrestling Club” on Facebook or email jarrod.patterson@sandites.org to sign up. Freestyle and Greco-Roman practices will begin Thursday, March 25th at Charles Page High School.