Girls’ wrestling is the fastest growing girls’ sport in the United States, according to the National Association of State High Schools.
This trend is evident locally as more schools and universities continue to add women’s wrestling programs.
“I can’t believe how many girls are in this tournament,” Joel Sopak, Washington Middle School’s wrestling director and sixth-grade teacher, said after a recent middle school wrestling tournament. “This is a good thing. It means our sport is healthy and thriving.”
The tournament Sopak was talking about was held last Saturday at Jefferson Middle School and featured 14 teams, more than 110 wrestlers, and a much larger portion made up of female grapplers than in years past. .
“I don’t know how many of these wrestlers are girls,” said Eric Saul, a wrestling coach and teacher at Jefferson Middle School. “Every year, the number of girls getting on the mat increases. Girls not only compete against other girls, but also against men. But this is the most girls I’ve ever seen in one tournament. is.”
The National Federation of State High School Associations reported that the Wrestling Rules Committee has established separate weight classes for girls wrestling, effective for the 2023-24 season. The sport’s growth in participation and championships over the past five years has been greater than any other women’s sports team. NFHS reports that female participation in wrestling increased nationally from 4,975 in 2005 to 7,351 in 2010. According to the latest NFHS High School Track and Field Participation Survey, participation nearly tripled from 2018 to 2019, with 21,124 female participants.
According to data collected by the USA Wrestling Girls’ High School Development Committee from the National Wrestling Coaches Association and State High School Associations, 28,447 participants participated in the 2019-20 season. Locally and across the state, several schools are considering or considering full participation. -Women’s wrestling team. In addition, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association will hold its first individual women’s wrestling tournament on Friday, January 27th at the SRC Arena on the campus of Onondaga Community College. NYSPHSAA will recruit 208 female students from member schools. They travel around the state and compete in 13 weight classes. Each weight class is made up of 16 women who will wrestle up to the individual championship or rematch up to 6th place in wrestling.
Currently, girls participate in wrestling in 11 NYSPHSAA member sections, six of which have all-girls teams, creating state championships on par with boys.
“This is an exciting time for us as we host the first official event exclusively for female wrestlers competing in a statewide invitational tournament,” said NYSPHSAA Executive Director Dr. Robert Zayas.
It has a high support rate locally.
“It’s great to see women participating in wrestling. Over the last couple of years, the number of women’s wrestling has exploded locally. I can tell you from my personal experience at the University of Washington. “My girls are passionate about getting better, work extremely hard and are great teammates,” Sopak said. “I believe that women’s wrestling (Teams) is just around the corner and I can’t wait.”
Chautauqua Lake was one of three varsity girls wrestling teams in New York State and the only all-girls team in Section VI. There are currently more than 35 girls wrestling programs in the state, with four teams in Section VI this year, including two from Chautauqua County.
Chautauqua Lake will be joined by Fredonia this season, joining a list that also includes Orchard Park and Section VI Niagara Frontier League teams. Additionally, several other local school districts are preparing to add girls-only wrestling programs.
Asked about adding an all-girls wrestling team to Jamestown High School, Athletic Director Ben Drake said it all depends on student interest.
“We’ve brought it up before, but interest seems to wane once female wrestlers graduate from middle school. If we were interested in an all-female team, we’d definitely consider it, but we haven’t seen anything like that yet. Never,” Drake said. “While our flagship programs remain our football and basketball teams, I know that women’s wrestling is rapidly growing nationally.”
said Olivia Little, an eighth-grader and school wrestler. “I come from a family of wrestlers, and my brother wrestled in middle school. I plan on competing in high school with my brother.”