Wyoming is one of the few states, along with Maine, South Dakota, and West Virginia, that has never won a Miss America title. But Baylee Drewry — a former athlete in boy’s tackle football and pioneering female wrestler — has high hopes for Miss America 2025.
Drewry grew up in Greybull, Wyoming, which has a population of 1,700. It seemed a far cry from the glitz and glam of beauty pageants. And she hasn’t always felt like a beauty queen.
She remembers being bullied in high school. She was watching the reality show “Toddlers & Tiaras” one day over Christmas break as a teenager when she had a realization.
“I was like, I could do that,” she said, “so I just Googled ‘pageants in Wyoming’.”
Drewry started competing in pageants when she was 16 and went on to compete through her time at the University of Wyoming, where she recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history. Now 21, Drewry competed in and won the title of Miss Wyoming earlier this year. Her platform (called a Community Service Initiative in pageant lingo) was “Support Girls and Women in Sports.” This will be Drewry’s platform when she competes in Miss America in January, an issue close to Drewry’s heart as she has been a girl’s wrestling coach for years.
There is a political cloud hanging over the subject. In 2023, Wyoming became the 19th state to ban transgender women and girls in sports.
When asked where Drewry stands on this, she started by referencing her experience in high school, where she played tackle football and was the first and only female wrestler.
“I don’t believe in complete separation. But what I do believe is that as a girls wrestling coach, I have to understand and acknowledge the biological difference between male and females,” she said.
For her, it’s a “personal safety” issue.
For Drewry’s talent portion of the competition, she plans on giving a presentation, in the style of a TED Talk, about what it’s like to be a woman wrestling coach.
“That’s why I’m mentoring girls,” she said, “because I believe that girls need a strong leader in front of them to show them that they can do what they want to do.
The finals of the Miss America competition take place at 5 p.m. MT on Jan. 5 and can be streamed live across all time zones at MissAmerica.tv for free.
