The Macaluso sisters are paving the way for female wrestlers. Sophia took interest in the sport first, and then a few years later, her older sister Mia joined in.

Their love for wrestling started with their dad, who played in college.

"I didn't have any sons, I had four daughters, and I never thought I would be back in wrestling, so when she brought that permission slip home, I think I teared [up] a little bit," said Heath Macaluso, the girls’ father.

Mia and Sophia wrestle for the Minisink Valley boys' team. On the weekends, they play for their dad's club team, Venom Girls Wrestling.

The sisters say they're lucky to have each other.

"During the season, we diet together sometimes, we're training partners, and we just have each other to share the journey with," said Mia Macaluso.

The journey hasn't always been easy: They've both had to take extra tests to prove they are strong enough and even faced harassment.

"I remember when I first got there, all the boys were looking at me like, ‘What is a girl doing on the mat right now,’ " said Sophia Macaluso.

They say that's going away since they've started to make a name for themselves.

"They are like, ‘These girls aren't just girls, they're wrestlers,’ " said Sophia.

Both of them have won multiple national titles, and Mia has an international championship. They're both ranked in the top 10 of high school female wrestlers in the country and they've both won FARGO, the junior and cadet national wrestling championships.

"Ever since I won FARGO, everybody is like, ‘Wow, these girls are actually good.’ Ever since Mia won FARGO, they're like, ‘Wow, these girls are really good,’ " Sophia said.

Both girls hope to make it to the Olympics. It’s a dream that's becoming closer to reality: They want to compete and qualify for the 2024 games.

Mia has already made it onto the U.S. national team, and Sophia hopes to follow in her footsteps.

"Don't let anybody stop you from doing it because somebody told you not to," said Mia.

"As Mia said, don't care what other people think. There are so many opinions out there, so many old school people that are like, ‘Oh, how can you let your daughters wrestle boys?’ And I'm just like, we aren’t just daughters, we are wrestlers," Sophia said.