Krystal Halak is the female official in the New Jersey Wrestling Officials Association.(Courtesy of Krystal Halak)
Krystal Halak eagerly watched from the Red Bank Regional High School stands as female wrestlers covered the mats for the first-ever NJSIAA girls wrestling regional tournament last February.
She was overcome with emotion.
On one hand, she was overjoyed that girls were finally able to not only just excel, but earn state championships in the previously male-dominated sport, but on the other hand, she wished she would’ve gotten a chance to compete in a state tournament when she was a wrestler at Elmwood Park High School before she graduated in 2008.
Then she had a conversation with Elmwood Park coach Thomas Mulligan, who captained the wrestling team Halak’s freshman year.
“He told me that girls like myself, who wrestled when no other girls were wrestling, were the real pioneers of the girls state tournament and that we paved the road for these girls to do it now,” Halak remembered. “That made me feel proud.”
Now Halak is pioneering another voyage on the wrestling circuit.
In her second year as a cadet, Halak is the only female official in the New Jersey Wrestling Officials Association.
She is ecstatic to give back to the sport and be a trailblazer yet again.
“It makes me feel proud of the decision that I made years ago to start wrestling,” she said. “I’m really happy that I chose wrestling because it built great character in me and made me into the person that I am today.”
The door is wide open for women to follow in Halak’s footsteps and the NJWOA is desperate to bring in more female referees as high school women’s wrestling continues to rapidly expand in its second year.
“We’re hoping that some women will see that they can get in on the front end of the spectrum as far as the interest. They can be there right as it starts to grow and grow with the sport,” New Jersey State Rules Interpreter Joe Nipper said. “We hope that there are some women out there that see an opportunity to join in. We definitely have a need for them and we are definitely looking out for them.”
Nipper and the NJWOA are looking to make it as easy as possible for women to join. Anyone of interest can call their local high school’s athletic office to have their name passed along to a wrestling official, they can apply on the NJWOA website or they can approach any official at a match and pass along their information in person to speed up the process.
Referee assignor Matt Menkowski believes it is extremely important for girls competing to see women officiating their matches.
“The officials can be leaders to the girls that are wrestling,” Menkowski said. “It will show them that there is something they can do after high school. If they don’t want to wrestle in college, they can become an official. We would be more than welcome to have that.”
While the process of growing the number of female officials may start slow, girls taking the mats can already look up to a role model in Halak, who has proven that being involved in wrestling doesn’t have to stop after high school.
“I hope that I can encourage other wrestlers out there or even parents to try this,” she said. “Officiating is really for anybody who loves the sport.”
Richard Greco may be reached at rgreco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @Richard_V_Greco. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
