Takedown Report

Girls Wrestling Keeps Growing with Opportunities

PA getting close to sanctioning girls HS wrestling
Editor’s Note: On Feb. 14, 2023, SanctionPA announced that the goal of 100 girls high school programs — the number required by the PIAA before it would consider sanctioning girls high school — had been met. The following feature, which appeared in the February issue of WIN Magazine, gives you a background on the effort it took to reach this goal … and of hopefully making girls high school wrestling in Pennsylvania official later this year.

By Mike Finn
Brooke Zumas has always had a love and strong vision for the sport of wrestling and the impact it has on people, whether it was simply sitting alongside her dad watching Lehigh wrestling matches as a child or later photographing some of the nation’s top events in wrestling.
Fortunately for Zumas and a growing number of girl wrestlers in the state of Pennsylvania, Zumas eventually put her camera down and helped people within the Keystone State to share an even bigger vision and dream: officially sanction girls high school wrestling in Pennsylvania.

This story first appeared in the Feb. 17 issue of WIN Magazine. Click on the cover or call 888-305-0606 to subscribe.

“I think we could have over 125 programs by the start of next season,” said Zumas, who has served as one of the leaders of “SanctionPA” for the past three years. That would be a remarkable number, considering there were many in the state who were unhappy when the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association’s made the decision that there must be at least 100 high school wrestling programs before the PIAA would consider making girls wrestling an official sport. 
In 2019, Zumas was approached to be part of the leadership team of a new group being formed to support the Keystone State’s wrestling community as they attempted to get girls wrestling sanctioned.
“Pat Tocci (formerly of the National Wrestling Coaches Association) reached out to me in December 2019 and said, ‘Can you help move girls wrestling forward in Pennsylvania?’ I jumped in and we formed a task force in March of 2020. It took off and we have never looked back.”
By 2019, over half of the United States’s high school athletic associations had already determined that girls wrestling was here to stay. The traditionally-wrestling-rich state of Pennsylvania had not made that move and the PIAA set its highest bar ever in terms of the number of programs needed for a sport to be sanctioned.

“The PIAA was not going to just start a championship. They have specific criteria. We decided the PIAA gave us a roadmap,” said Zumas. “We might not like it, but we knew what we needed to do, so we said, ‘Let’s go do it.’ ”

And as of Feb.10, 2023 there were 98 girls-only high school programs around the state and Zumas believes the 100-program threshold will be met before the PIAA meets again this summer to decide on changing girls wrestling from “emerging-sports” status to making it an official sport in time for a sanctioned state championship in 2024.

Boys wrestling has always been big in Pennsylvania. There are currently 472 boys high school teams in the state. It usually is the state with most NCAA Division I All-Americans and has more college programs than any other state, a list that includes Penn State, which has won nine NCAA championships since 2011 and is ranked No. 1 this season.

As one might imagine, in a state like Pennsylvania where wrestling is held in such high regard, there were plenty of girls who also felt that wrestling tradition despite very few opportunities to compete. Zumas still remembers how she was introduced to the sport. … rest of story at WIN-magazine.com/sanctionpas-vision-helped-girls-prep-wrestling-gain-momentum-to-try-become-officially-sanctioned

Pennsylvania schools reach milestone in girls’ wrestling
(WHTM) — Wrestling is the fastest-growing sport for girls in the United States.
In Pennsylvania, it has taken several years to reach an important milestone. There are now 100 schools in the Commonwealth with girls wrestling programs. The 100 school mark means the PIAA can officially sanction the sport, but the fight won’t stop here. “Right now. Please don’t stop. Please don’t stop pushing. One hundred isn’t the end with 472 schools having wrestling in our state. There is room for more,” said Robert Lombardi, PIAA executive director.

The athletes are excited about the growing sport as well. “I love wrestling because it made me more responsible in school and keeps me motivated to stay consistent. It brings out confidence and girls and shows that we can do anything. Our girl’s wrestling team is special because we are a group of diverse girls that love and support each other like we are family,” said Liana Samuel, a J.P. McCaskey wrestler. … rest of story at ABC27.com/local-news/pennsylvania-schools-reach-milestone-in-girls-wrestling

KHSAA IN KENTUCKY ADOPTS GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL WRESTLING FOR 2023-24, MAKING IT THE 38TH STATE TO ADD SPORT
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) has officially added girls wrestling as a state sanctioned sport.

A KHSAA press release published today entitled “Board of Control Approves Adoption of Girls’ Wrestling” had the following

The KHSAA Board of Control conducted its fifth regularly scheduled meeting of the 2022-23 academic year on Wednesday in Lexington, approving the adoption of girls’ wrestling, the solicitation of a site to hold the boys’ and girls’ wrestling tournaments consecutively, specifications for KHSAA Golf State First Round sites and the election of the 2023-24 Board President-Elect.
The adoption of girls’ wrestling will be effective in the 2023-24 academic year. As a result of the Board’s approval, the KHSAA Commissioner has been tasked with finalizing logistics for a state championship in girls wrestling with two or four state-managed qualifying sites, as well as finalizing negotiations to find, if possible, a potential consolidated site following a survey of the membership on scheduling implications.
Kentucky becomes the 38th state to host a recognized state girls high school wrestling tournament, as determined by USA Wrestling’s Girls High School Development Committee, co-chaired by Joan Fulp and Andrea Yamamoto. … rest of story and list of states at Teamusa.org/USA-Wrestling/Features/2023/February/22/Kentucky-becomes-38th-state-to-add-girls-wrestling

February 27, 2023 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized