History was made Thursday afternoon at Mt. Hebron High School as senior Cassy Lopez signed her National Letter of Intent to wrestle at Presbyterian College in South Carolina. Lopez is the first ever female wrestler to sign a National Letter of Intent and receive a scholarship from a Division One school for wrestling. The feat sparks a movement for more female wrestlers across the entire world to pursue their passion in the sport.

Lopez does not seem to be fazed by being the first female Division One wrestler. “It feels great,” she said. “I’m actually really grateful to have this opportunity.”

Throughout her high school career, Lopez has been overlooked as a 106-pound underdog who won 29 matches in three years at the varsity level, including 20 this past winter. Lopez truly fell in love with the sport as a freshman after training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu as well as judo for three years.

Lopez hopes to be a role model for young female inspired wrestlers who want to pursue their dreams and follow in her footsteps. She should not be overlooked any longer as she paves the way for so many female wrestlers down the road.

As a sophomore, Lopez won the 106-pound JV County Title with four first period pins but unfortunately missed the playoffs her junior year due to injury. This season, she impressed with a 29-19 record to help Mt. Hebron win its second 3A East Regional Dual Championship and reach the 3A State Dual Finals for the second time ever in program history.

In the midst of all this success, Lopez also became the first female to win the Maryland State Wrestling Association’s “Triple Crown” by securing titles in folkstyle, freestyle and Greco-Roman while accomplishing this feat twice.

Like many high school seniors, the decision of picking a college to further academic and even athletic careers can be very difficult, especially when faced with a number of schools as Lopez was.

Lopez went on to explain the decision process and narrowing her choices down to one final school. “I actually received a lot of offers from other schools, but this offer actually came towards the end of the line,” she said. “As I was looking through, they were getting better and better, and this opportunity I just couldn’t turn down.”

Coach Danny Harman, who was also present at Lopez’s signing, had nothing but great words to say about her Mt. Hebron career and her future as the first female Division One wrestler.

“She is definitely a hard worker and has worked really hard the past four years, learning the sport of wrestling, developing technique, becoming stronger, wrestling in the off-season. She’s put in the work to get to this point,” explained Harman.

When discussing Lopez’s future at Presbyterian College, Harman said, “It will be a nice opportunity for her to compete against women only. With high school she has been wrestling all boys. I think she will develop more as a wrestler.”

With all this excitement and buzz for Lopez and the Mt. Hebron community, Mt. Hebron will be tuning in to watch her matches every chance they get. After a successful Mt. Hebron career and becoming the first female to sign a wrestling National Letter of Intent, the future is even brighter for the strong wrestler who shows no signs of slowing down on the wrestling mat.