They were freshmen when Audrey Darnell and Madi Hargett joined the girls wrestling program during the 2019-2020 school year. These girls were pioneers for the girls wrestling program that began to grow since their induction and over the next four years, these two ladies have been the faces of the girls wrestling team at Baldwin High School.

“I didn’t really know much about the sport of wrestling, but Coach Kit Harris kept talking to me about joining the wrestling team, so I tried it out and have been doing it since,” Darnell said.

Coach Harris has coached wrestling for 28 years now and has had a girls team for 4 years. Harris led his girls team through a state championship in 2020.

“Coaching Audrey and Madi has been an awesome experience. I’m going to miss them a lot,” Harris said.” They will always be a part of the program that they built from scratch as freshmen and have put so much hard work and dedication into it.”

Darnell and Hargett have experienced a lot of success over the last four years for the sport of wrestling. Both girls have placed at the 4A State High School competition as well as several other big tournaments. 

“The hardest part about wrestling is the mindset because it’s just as much of a mental challenge as it is a physical challenge,” Hargett said. “There is no telling who will win a match, it’s simply who wrestles smarter and harder on the mat.”

When these two girls take to the mat they are all determination. They have something to prove to themselves but they are also out there proving to others that girls can wrestle and can do it competitively. The amount of matches won by these two girls over the last four years shows just how amazing these two are as athletes. 

“The state trophies and all of the hard work were all amazing but, I think my greatest accomplishment was creating some of my closest friends and also a family,” Darnell said.

Both girls are leaders for the team and make sure everyone else who comes out on the mat works hard. Darnell and Hargett are both captains and have left a legacy behind for other girls at BHS to follow. 

The girls wrestling team set the bar high each year as a team. When BHS wrestlers head to the mat, many other schools know that we are a dedicated and determined team who like to take home the gold.