Brooke Catron, center, is surrounded by teammates at her Friday afternoon signing for Manchester University wrestling. (Photo courtesy Yvonne Salazar)

There are going to be a lot of firsts for Wawasee girls wrestling. The latest is sending an athlete to the next level, and the first girls wrestler to officially sign with a college formally did so on Friday.

Wawasee senior Brooke Catron put pen to paper, committing to Manchester University to continue her wrestling and academic careers. Catron has wrestled for the two years that Wawasee has held a formal girls program. Her senior season was cut short by injury, but that didn’t stop the pipeline of Wawasee wrestlers finding their way to Manchester.

“I wanted a smaller school close to home and I heard that they are starting up a girls wrestling program,” stated Catron on her choosing of Manchester.

The Spartans, which will start its program in the winter of 2024, will be led by Trevor Young, who has a lengthy list of accomplishments in his time with both Western and Marion high school wrestling programs.

Catron, who has also played softball at Wawasee, was a regional qualifier and a Mental Attitude Award winner with the wrestling program as a junior.

At Manchester, Catron looks to study nursing.