by Claudia Loucks
Geneseo Current
Lydia King reached two milestones in the Geneseo High School Girls’ Wrestling 2025-2026 season when she marked 100 match wins in January, and added 100 pins to her record by the end of the season.
King, who is a GHS senior this year, is the first in the history of the school’s girls’ wrestling program to have reached those goals.
When asked about her success in the sport, King said, “Getting my 100 wins and being recognized at state last season has helped me gain recognition by some college coaches, which I hope will help me compete at the next level which would be college.”
Geneseo High School Head Girls’ Wrestling Coach Tricia Hull, left, is shown with senior Lydia King, who recently was honored for having reached 100 pins in the 2025-2026 season. King also celebrated having achieved 100 wrestling match wins at a meet held Jan. 2 in the GHS gym. Contributed Photo
She placed third at the State level last season.
Her future plans include attending a college where she can wrestle, and she added that she would like to study nutrition and pursue a future as a sports dietitian.
King’s interest in wrestling began when she was in eight grade and it was in her freshman year at GHS that Girls’ Wrestling became an official sport at the high school.
She said she chose to be part of the girls’ wrestling team as a result of her brother having been on the wrestling team at GHS… “I chose this sport because of my brother. (Owen King who graduated from GHS in 2025) I watched him wrestle since I was little, and as soon as I heard other girls were doing it in eighth grade, I knew that I needed to join!”
She also plays softball.
“Wrestling means so much to me,” King said. “It has taught me so many lessons and has put me through hard things, but those hard things have changed my mindset completely. My wrestling coaches mean everything to me. They stay with me even when I’m down. They never give up on me and always push me forward.”
Head Coach Tricia Hull commented on King’s achievements and said, “Lydia’s success is a testament to her strong work ethic, dedication to the sport, and unwavering support from her parents, David and Rachel King; her coaches, teammates and the community. She consistently proves she is up for any challenge, and strives to be the hardest working girl in the room!”
Hull added that King’s next big challenge will be competing at “Test of the Best” on Oct. 17 at IC Catholic Prep School in Elmhurst.
“I am looking forward to seeing everything Lydia will continue to accomplish this season during her senior year,” Hull said. “This will be an exciting season as it’s my first year as head coach, and we have had changes to our season timeline that I have had to take on already!”
“Our season will now officially start on Monday, Oct.26, with competition beginning the week of Nov. 9. The change comes in an effort to have the girls’ season ending prior to the Boys’ State Series beginning so there is not an overlap and competing for refs at these large post season events.”
“We have put in a lot of work in the off season and pre-season this year, and focused not only on conditioning and mat time, but also on our mental toughness and finding a good team synergy!”
Lydia King shared that the group has been reading the book The Energy Bus, “which kind of explains how you need to be around the right people to achieve what you want to achieve, and you need to look at the positive side of things rather than the negative.”
Assisting Hull in the GHS girls’ wrestling program are assistant coaches Jesse Montez, Anthony Montez, Zachary Montez and Macy Litherland.