LUMBERTON — From 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Christy Hunt and Sarah Wallwork are normal teenagers.

They enjoy the vices — texting, shopping, dressing up, going to the mall — that any adolescent girl covets.

But, after 3:30 p.m. they do something most girls don't do — they trade ear rings and dresses for head gear and a singlet.

Hunt and Wallwork are the only two girls wrestlers in Robeson County and will leave today for the First North Carolina Women's Folkstyle Tournament at Lawrence Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem.

The tournament begins on Saturday morning.

"It's always been in my family and I really wanted to challenge myself by doing it," Hunt said. "My cousin (Billy Roach) is the coach of the Lumberton Seadogs wrestling club. My father (James Hunt) wrestled at Lumberton in the early 1980's."

Wallwork had two brothers graduate from Lumberton.

"I'm the the only girl in my family so I was used to playing around with my brothers," she said. "So, when I saw the poster at school, I thought it was something that I wanted to do."

However, both girls' parents had reservations about them competing with boys.

"My dad thought it was good, but I had to strongly express that I wanted to do it," Hunt said. "I told them to let me try and see how it is and if I don't like it then I can quit."

Wallwork had a slightly different experience.

"At first I had them convinced that I would be wrestling only girls and they were fine with it," Wallwork said. "After the first tournament at Concord, they saw that I was the only girl and they were a bit overwhelmed and told me I couldn't do it anymore. So, I went home and cried and wrote them letter."

Her letter worked and she's been wrestling since.

"This is a great thing for our wrestling program here at Lumberton, as well as the sport in general," Pirates head coach Heath Wrenn said. "These girl's have worked hard at each practice and proved that the really love the sport of wrestling. We're very proud of them both."

Hunt, a junior at Lumberton, says her Pirate teammates always support them.

"They think it's awesome that we wrestle," Hunt said. "They encourage us and they help us."

Being a girl at a tournament can even provide a psychological advantage according to Lumberton's duo.

"When we walked in the Cape Fear tournament, all the guys asked us what weight class we were in, because they didn't want to wrestle us," Hunt said.

As for Saturday's tournament, both Hunt and Wallwork are excited.

"I'm just ready to see what it's like," Wallwork said.