By Brayden Carlson, Tyler Johnson, and Yigit Kacmaz
Girls' high school wrestling in recent years has continued to develop as states nationwide have officially sanctioned the sport. Since 1994, the number of women who wrestle in high school has grown from 804 to over 31,654 as of 2022. (NWCA) This portion of our team’s research is going to focus on the official sanctioning journeys of girls' high school wrestling in states surrounding Iowa including Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Nebraska, Illinois, and Missouri. As of 2023, 37 states have officially sanctioned girls’ high school wrestling, there are four emerging sport status states and nine unsanctioned states. (Wrestle Like a Girl)
The first of Iowa’s surrounding states to officially sanction high school girls' wrestling was Missouri as the Missouri State High School Activities Association made it official in May 2018. (Abbott, 2018) Since becoming an official sport in the state four years ago participation in the sport has held strong. According to the NWCA, 1,425 high school girls’ wrestlers are competing in the state as of 2022. Missouri is a top-five state in the country in terms of its level of participation in the sport.
Following Missouri, three more of Iowa’s surrounding states acted to officially sanction high school girls’ wrestling in their state's athletics. The South Dakota, Illinois, and Wisconsin high school associations all voted to make girls’ high school wrestling official in their states in June 2020. (Abbott, 2020) Since becoming an official sport in these states two years ago participation in the sport has grown steadily in South Dakota and Wisconsin and quickly in Illinois. According to the NWCA, 141 high school girls’ wrestlers are competing in South Dakota, 835 are competing in Illinois, and 365 are competing in Wisconsin as of 2022.
The most recent Iowa surrounding states to officially sanction high school girls’ wrestling were Nebraska and Minnesota. Nebraska’s activities association voted yes in May of 2021. (Dietrich, 2021) Minnesota’s high school league followed the sport in August of 2021. (Myran-Schutte, 2022) After one season of being an official sport the state’s participation in the sport is in the smaller stages. Going forward it is sure to continue to grow as the sport becomes further established in the state. According to the NWCA, 274 high school girls’ wrestlers are competing in Nebraska and 142 are competing in Minnesota as of 2022. Nebraska and Minnesota officially sanctioned the sport just under a year before Iowa made it official in March of 2022.
“Girls continue to take up the challenge. They continue to wrestle despite the obstacles endured in finding their space on the mat,” said Joan Fulp, co-chair of the USA Wrestling Girls High School Development Committee. “One by one they see the inspiration and character-building traits once only enjoyed by boys and men. They want to drink from the same fountain.” (Krumrie, 2020) Fulp describes a main reason girls’ wrestling at the high school level has seen an expansion of participation in states nationwide. The sport has given female student-athletes at the high school level another option to participate in sports and represent their high school/community. With the expansion of this sport at the high school level, college programs in response have also been active in establishing women’s wrestling programs providing more opportunities for female wrestlers. Examples of college programs in the state of Iowa that recently established women’s wrestling programs include Wartburg College and the University of Iowa.
The Iowa schools have done a great job of dividing the practices and competitions up, one school has the guys and girls' practices alternating evening and morning practices. Coaches and parents have all been very supportive throughout this change and the communities have also shown their support as well. With only needed, 51 programs needed, they ended up getting 100 programs. This season has a lot to look forward to as the numbers continue to grow in the girls' teams as they continue to sign up the more girls wrestling is promoted.
Dallas Center-Grimes kicked off the girls wrestling season by hosting a 4-team dual meet. Erin Kirtley, the IGHSAU wrestling administrator, talked about how excited people are to see where this season takes girls wrestling as this has been a two-year process in the making. There were a few hundred people in the gym as DCG hosted Ankeny, Spencer, and Waverly-Shell Rock to kick off the girls wrestling season. Each team was able to wrestle twice.
Girl’s wrestling has already started off great with 1,823 Iowa girls registered and eligible to wrestle this season, according to Track wrestling. Last year that would have been ranked fourth Nationally, according to the National Federation of State High School Association as California had 5,578, Texas had 4,836, and Missouri had 1,897. Many have stated that this is a historic moment for girls' sports. Charlotte Bailey, Iowa USA Wrestling’s Women’s Director who has led Iowa’s girls wrestling movement for years, drove in from Iowa City to watch.
On the national stage, girls' wrestling is currently sanctioned in 37 states with 4 states that sanctioned it in the year 2022. According to wrestlelikeagirl.org, 4 more states are in the process of sanctioning it: Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, and Virginia. The remaining states still classify the sport as a club and have a governing body. Girl's wrestling is without a doubt on the rise and will eventually become a national sport in all 50 states!
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