Takedown Report

Montana officially sanctions girls wrestling

By Mark Palmer, InterMat Senior Writer 1/22/2020 mark@intermatwrestle.com, Twitter: @MatWriter
The Montana High School Association voted to approve girls wrestling — along with boys powerlifting — as the state’s two newest sports at its annual meeting on Monday, according to multiple media reports.

These new sports will be available at MHSA member schools beginning in the 2020-21 school year. The MHSA committee established a structure to create a smooth transition to separate girls’ competition. During an initial two-year pilot period, girl wrestlers will be allowed to compete in the regular season against either male or female competitors. In the postseason, however, girls will have their own state wrestling tournament with all schools competing in the same classification. That means, beginning in 2020-21, girls will no longer be allowed to wrestle in the boys’ state tournament. There will be no divisional for girls wrestling, and all girl wrestlers will qualify for the state championships. The committee also recommended weight classes of 103, 113, 126, 138, 152, 170 and 205 pounds for girls wrestling in Montana high schools.
Girls wrestling and boys powerlifting are the first new sports to be officially sanctioned by the MHSA since 1991. Montana is the first state to officially sanction girls high school wrestling in 2020. By InterMat’s count, up through the end of 2019, 20 states had approved girls wrestling. Story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/22983?fbclid=IwAR1-2E6rGieM35SSTjF4d2AlqUaJ9PsVJEdBqjFvZbK8zTCQfALpRlpfgkM
TDR Editor’s Notes ; Every time we see a growth in wrestling opportunities is a good thing to see. We hoped women’s wrestling would reach 20 states by 2020 and they have. How about having 25 states with state women’s wrestling being sanction by the end of the 2020-2025 season? Thus they will be halfway to having programs in every state. There just need to be one more state to add Men’s Scholastic programs for there to be opportunities in every state.
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January 22, 2020 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized