It drew attention when freshman Searra Inman was a girl wrestling on the varsity team for Brandywine High School. How she did on the mat has opened up opportunities outside high school competition. A U.S. National Team scout saw the 15-year old Inman wrestle at 103 pounds and was very impressed.

“He approached my parents first,” said Inman, who finished with a 29-20 record this past winter. “He then came up to me and talked to me and I was shocked. He said that I was a great wrestler and that on the national team I would be phenomenal.”

Inman wanted to keep wrestling after the high school season and she decided to represent the state of Michigan on the U.S. National team.
Inman has made the scout look good.

After not placing in a national meet in Oklahoma, she placed second at a national meet in early April in Missouri. Girls from Ohio, Texas and California competed at the meets.

Next up for Inman is an international meet on May 7-8 in New York City.

“I’m very surprised,” Inman said about her wrestling success. “I didn’t think I would like wrestling this much. I thought it would be hard on me and my body. My high school year was great and what I’ve done at recent national meets has just been phenonenal.

“I’m really excited about this.”
Inman has expectations for herself when she competes in these offseason meets. “I hope to get better and learn more moves. I would also like to get stronger and more muscular and get better mentally in the sport.

“I’ve really enjoyed being on the national team. I get along really well with the other girls. We do team bonding things. It’s like a wrestling family.”

This introduction to wrestling competiton around the world might someday lead to an Olympic opportunity for Inman. In Oklahoma, Inman and her teammates trained with Olympic wrestlers.

“A lot of people don’t know that there’s a women’s Olympic wrestling team,” Inman said. “We’re hoping to get around and open some people’s eyes.”