GUYTON, Ga. – South Effingham wrestler Brooklynn Hughes doesn’t mind taking the road less traveled.
Last year, as a freshman, she was one of four girls hoping to join the Mustangs’ wrestling team. The others eventually moved on. Hughes didn’t budge.
“Who doesn’t like a challenge?” she said Friday after completing a Life University wrestling camp at SEHS, where she was the only girl competing alongside the boys.
Cooling down from an exhausting morning and afternoon session, the 150-pound sophomore spoke slowly, strands of hair stuck to the sweat on her face.
Her name, Brooklynn – “Every certificate I’ve ever gotten was misspelled,” she said – might suggest a big-city background. But she’s no New Yorker. She’s a Georgia girl who doesn’t dwell on convention.
Hughes also competes in weightlifting and throws the shot put and discus for the high school track team. At home, she helps with the family business setting up party inflatables like water slides and bounce houses.
Why wrestling?
“I’ve always been into weightlifting and running, and wrestling is weightlifting and running combined,” Hughes said.
Making a first impression
Mustangs head coach Christopher Bringer didn’t quite remember his first encounter with Hughes in the school hallway.
Hughes remembered it clearly. “He laughed,” she said.
“Having girls on the team, I didn’t know what to expect because it was sudden,” Bringer said. “We didn’t have the manpower or separate facilities.”
Three of the female wrestling newcomers were also on the flag football team and missed the start of the season. But Hughes was all-in. She sent Bringer multiple emails asking for a chance. Then she showed up for Day 1 of practice.
“I didn’t think she was serious at first,” Bringer said. “But she would go through a two-hour boys’ practice, then stay 45 minutes and wrestle with the girls. She probably has the best work ethic on the team.
“She’s not a girl I have to treat differently. She doesn’t want me to treat her differently. She’s just a hard-working, tough young lady.”
Girls wrestling is still gaining ground in Georgia. Carrollton won the first girls dual state championship in 2023. South Effingham’s region rival Greenbrier claimed a team title last season. Locally, Richmond Hill fielded a girls team for the first time and placed fourth.
Individually, Effingham County’s Mia Bernacki earned runner-up state finishes in 2022 (197 pounds) and 2023 (170).
Hughes has always been athletic and determined to find her niche. She said she used to get into fights playing basketball – until she realized she didn’t even like basketball.
She ran cross country in middle school. She excelled in weightlifting, setting age-group and weight-class records in the bench press (154.3 pounds) and deadlift (286.6 pounds) while winning her division at the Savannah Coastal Clash and the Boro Battle last year.
Unfazed by her first loss
Hughes lost her first match to Effingham County’s Ella Dean, a more experienced wrestler, but left the mat more motivated than ever.
“Even though I lost, I knew something was there,” Hughes said. “I got hungrier. I got my first match out of the way and I was ready to work because I realized how hard it was going to be.”
She finished her freshman season with a 20-10 record and was proud to end with more wins than losses. Although she didn’t qualify for sectionals, she has her sights set on reaching the state tournament in 2025-26.
Her ultimate goal is even bigger.
“I want to see what (college scholarship offers) come in between wrestling, track (discus) and weightlifting,” she said. “For girls, wrestling is probably a good way to get a scholarship. As long as you can stay aggressive and put in more work than the other girls, you can get somewhere.”
Bringer said improved speed and mental focus could make Hughes a top-six finisher at state. She doesn’t mind giving up part of her summer break to make that happen.
“I’d rather be in here grinding it out and go to the beach afterwards,” she said.
