Takedown Report

The OHSAA should consider girls wrestling as a separate division

TDR Notes : Another state strong in wrestling, Ohio, is considering opening up more opportunities for female wrestlers.
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By Fuad Shalhout, The Morning Journal
Have you ever wondered why the OHSAA doesn’t have girls wrestling? If your mind is boggled by the idea that one of the great wrestling states in the country doesn’t have a girls division, then join the club. Wrestling in Ohio is like NASCAR to North Carolina, basketball to New York and hockey to Minnesota.
The OHSAA state wrestling tournament in Columbus every March is a three-day whirlwind. The tension in the air is so thick your heart pounds as if you were the one out on the mat. What makes it puzzling that Ohio hasn’t developed a separate girls high school sport is the that several states have already done so, where wrestling is arguably less popular in a few of those. According to a tweet in May from Mike Moyer, executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, seven states sponsor high school girls wrestling: California, Alaska, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii and Tennessee. There are nine more states pursuing it: Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado. At the Lorain County Wrestling Coaches Officials Association meeting in March, president Rick Davis ran the idea past me of finding a way to evolve the sport to tap into an underrepresented market: Girls. At the Lorain All-Star meet at Elyria in March, two girls went head-to-head. There has to be a way to expand interest in wrestling with females to the point were it could thrive as its own entity, similar to swimming, cross country and track and field. Rest of the story at http://www.morningjournal.com/sports/20170618/fuad-shalhout-the-ohsaa-should-consider-girls-wrestling-as-a-separate-division?mc_cid=50e33e82e4&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

August 8, 2017 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment