The 2024 HighSchoolOT All-State Girls Wrestling Team
Lumberton, Jack Britt, and Havelock led the way with three selections each. The first-of-its-kind team has a first team and a second team with two wrestlers per weight class, then 12 honorable mention wrestlers regardless of weight class.
The inaugural HighSchoolOT girls wrestling all-state team is here. The first-of-its-kind team has a first team and a second team with two wrestlers per weight class, then 12 honorable mention wrestlers regardless of weight class.
Since only the N.C. High School Athletic Association sanctions girls wrestling and has only one open classification, the top two finishers made first team and the third- and fourth-place finishers were on second team.
The 12 honorable mention all-state wrestlers — the same number of girls weight classes — are selected without regard to weight class (for instance, 100 pounds could have three HM all-state wrestlers, while 106 could have zero). … story at … Highschoolot.com/2024-highschoolot-all-state-girls-wrestling-team
Top 70 All-Time Division II Coaches – TDR # 31 – 76
The coaches are ranked by the number of dual meet wins while they were a head coach at a Division II school. Totals include matches from the 2023-2024 season.
ALL-TIME Coaches (D-II)– Top 70 (or so) with at least 100 wins Wins
- Pat Pecora (Pitt-Johnstown) 661 (15)
- Doug Parker (Springfield, Mass) 485
- Don Elia (Carson-Newman) 461
- Mike Olson (UNC-Pembroke, Upper Iowa, Monmouth) 428 – II ??
- Arthur “Bucky” Maughn (N Dak State) 408
- David James (Cent. Oklahoma) 396
- Mike Denney (Maryville Univ./Nebr.-Omaha) 389 – retired in 2023
- Vaughn Hitchcock (Cal-Poly-SLO) 353 – II
- Steve Costanzo (St. Cloud Univ.&Dana Coll.) 333 (14) up 1 spot
- Jim Makovsky (Minn. St.-Mankato/Valley City St.) 326 (2)
- Robert “Rummy” Macias (Minn. St.-Mankato) 299
- P.J. Smith (UNC-Pembroke, Campbell) 299
- Vince Monseau (West Liberty St./Peru St.) 286
- Jim Koch (Wisconsin-Parkside) 277
- Mike Sterner (SW Minnesota St.) 254
- William “Bill” Corman (Shippensburg State) 243
- Robert Fisher (Kutztown Univ.) 241 (5) up 1 spot
- Jason Liles (S.D. State/Montana St.-Northern) 236
- Doug Henry (Gannon Univ.) 233 – retired in 2023
- Terry Wetherald (Univ. of Indianapolis – Ind. Central) 230
- Heath Grimm (Upper Iowa Univ.) 229 (19) up 4 spots
- Jason Reitmeier (Augustana College-S.D.) 225 (13) up 3 spots
- Robin Ersland (Minot St./Cent. Mo. St./Calif. (Pa.), N. Mich. 225
- Marc Bauer (Univ. of Nebraska-Kearney) 215
- Mike Wehler (Mercyhurst, West Liberty State) 214 (7) up 1 spot
- Larry Kristoff (So. Illinois-Edwardsville, SW Mo. St.) 212
- Mike Palmisiano (Nebraska-Omaha, Ohio Northern) 200
- Tracy Borah (Western State College) 200
- Jason Valek (Newberry) 194
- Joe Seay (Cal. State Bakersfield) 187
- Allan Abraham (Calif. State San Francisco) 176
- Miles Van Hee (Western State College) 170
- Lars Jensen (Calif. State San Francisco) 170
- Stamatis Bulgaris (Wright State & Dayton) 169
- Ray Kowatch (Ashland College) 167
- John Oxton (St. Cloud State Univ.) 167
- Paul Kendle (Augustana College-S.D.) 163
- Howard Westcott (Portland State) 162
- James Kisgen (McKendree College) D-II – 2013 152 (14) up 4
- John W. Hancock (Northern Col., Col. St. Coll) 152
- Doug Moses (N.M. Highlands, So. Color., Col. St.) 151 – inc
- Bill Garland (Minnesota State-Moorhead) 147
- Roger Denker (Central Missouri State) 143
- Jack LaBonde (Northern Colorado, Col. St. Coll) 142
- John Sterner (Minnesota State-Moorehead) 137
- R.C. LaHaye (Lander/Grand Canyon) 135 (17) up 14
- Scott Ritzen (Chadron State College) 135
- Warren Williamson (South Dakota State ) 134
- Othello ‘O.T.’ Johnson (U. N.C.-Pembroke) 133 (14) up 11
- Dave Shutter (Truman State, NE Missouri State) 133
- Mike McGlinchey (Salisbury State) 133
- Jason Warthan (Indianapolis) 132 (9) up 6
- Jason Ramstetter(Adams State) 131 (6) up 4
- Jack Maughan (Northern Colorado) 129
- Chuck Piper (Colorado Mesa St.) 129
- Ken Caudell (Belmont-Abbey) 127 –– retired in 2023
- Martin Grahn (Portland State) 126
- Dan Hinkel (Kutztown) 124
- Mark Osgood (Ashland Univ.) 121
- Blaine Gorney (Livingstone) 121
- Jesse Nelson (SW Minnesota/Ridgewater) 120 inc. (4)
- Dock Kelly (Lourdes/Anderson Coll.) 117 ** now at NAIA school
- Bob Dalling (East Stroudsburg State) 115
- Dalton Jensen (Nebraska-Kearney) 112 (18) up 10 spots
- Tony Cipollone (Mercyhurst) 112
- Jack Ramey (Kearney State/Fort Hays St.) 107
- Shawn Nelson (Findlay Univ.) 107 inc. (3) up 1
- Seth Bloomquist (Shippensburg State) 105 (1)
- Nathan Osur (Connecticut/Wesleyan Univ.) 103
- Richard Ulrich (Adams State Univ.) 102
- Todd Steidley (Central Oklahoma) 101 (15) up 10 spots
Coaching Retirements
Kocher Announces Retirement After 45 Years With UChicago Wrestling
CHICAGO – It’s an end of an era for University of Chicago wrestling as head coach Leo Kocher has announced his upcoming retirement after 45 years at the helm for the Maroons.
“I cannot imagine a more rewarding professional and personal adventure than the one that has been provided to me by my years at the University of Chicago,” said Kocher. “The opportunity to work with the amazing student athletes who, while handling the most psychologically and physically grueling of intercollegiate sports, at the same time earn a degree from a college which is unsurpassed in its ability to deliver a demanding and extraordinary education.”
Kocher will leave UChicago as the most tenured of all head coaches in the department’s history. He has coached one NCAA D-III champion, one NCAA D-III outstanding wrestler, 32 All-Americans, 144 individual University Athletic Association (UAA) champions, and has led the Maroons to 18 UAA team titles with the last coming in 2023.
Kocher continued by saying, “I am also very grateful for the support and warm friendships shared with so many of my colleagues in Chicago athletics, as well as our college students and university professionals who impacted the lives of my wife Joy and me in our seven years as resident heads in the college housing system. Speaking of Joy, she earns enormous credit and my undying love for her dauntless management of the challenges the spouse of an intercollegiate athletic coach must face. This includes instances of unassisted minding of our three children, competition’s many late evenings and road trips. For the past four decades Joy has dealt with it all with grace and enviable competence.”
Kocher received the school’s John T. Wilson and Norman Maclean awards during his time at the university to go along with several inductions into wrestling hall of fames, numerous Man of the Year and lifetime service awards, and other various recognitions from associations and publications over the years. … story at … UChicago.edu/Kocher-announces-retirement-after-45-years-with-uchicago
And …
CMU’s Tom Borrelli Set to Retire After NCAA Championships
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. – Central Michigan’s Tom Borrelli, one of the most respected figures in college wrestling, has announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.
One of the sport’s all-time winningest coaches and an iconic name among his peers, Borrelli led the Chippewas to a first-place finish in the Mid-American Conference Championships over the weekend at Kent State. It was CMU’s 17th such title, the 15th under Borrelli. Including regular season crowns, the Chippewas captured a remarkable 30 MAC championships during Borrelli’s reign. He was named the MAC Coach of the Year for a record 15th time on Saturday.
Borrelli will officially step down after the NCAA Championships on March 23, bringing to an end a career that began in 1979 as a high school coach at his alma mater Goose Creek High School near Charleston, S.C. and continued at Riverwood High School near Atlanta.
Borrelli, who joined the college ranks as an assistant at Clemson in 1984, plans to remain heavily involved with the program that he has been instrumental in building and maintaining since coming to CMU from Lake Superior State in 1991. “The program is in a good spot, I think we’re going to have a good team next year, but I think it’s time for maybe a little different direction, some new enthusiasm – just a younger, more energetic person to lead the program,” said Borrelli, who amassed a 414-204 career dual meet record, ranking fourth in victories among active college coaches and second to Oklahoma State’s John Smith among those leading NCAA Division I programs. … story at … Getsomemaction.com/CMUS-tom-borrelli-set-to-retire-after-ncaa-championships
And …
Central Michigan’s Tom Borrelli Took Unconventional Coaching Path
Tom Borrelli will retire as the head coach of Central Michigan after the 2024 NCAA Championships, but his journey was not without challenges.
Mar 13, 2024 by Kyle Klingman
Tom Borrelli still doesn’t know why he was put in charge of his high school wrestling team as a junior. He was only 16 and competed at 98 pounds — the lightest weight class. It was a week before the South Carolina state championships and most of the wrestlers who had qualified were juniors and seniors at heavier weights. The head coach had to leave practice Borrelli became the interim coach for an hour. Nervous and more than a little shocked, Borrelli warmed up the team and put them through a series of drills. After the first set, he noticed that the team was goofing off. That did not sit well with Borrelli. He stopped the entire practice and ripped into the team. “I don’t know what you guys are thinking but I want to do well in the state tournament and I want to finish strong at the end of the year,” Borrelli told the team. “I’m going to practice hard. If you want to practice hard then practice hard. If not, you probably don’t need to be here.”
Borrelli watched as practice resumed. Everyone was working hard. Everyone listened. Everyone responded to the smallest wrestler on the team. “It was the first time I ever had the feeling that I might be able to motivate people someday,” Borrelli said. “That was the first time I ever experienced that I guess.” Experience is something Borrelli had little of when he took his larger teammates to task in 1974. He started wrestling in 10th grade and didn’t place at the state tournament the previous season. He eventually finished second as a junior and third as a senior for Goose Creek High School — but Borrelli admits that South Carolina wasn’t a national wrestling power, either.
As it turned out, Borrelli was never destined to be a wrestler. He was destined to be a wrestling coach. Because his high school didn’t offer the sport until he was a sophomore, Borrelli had to rely on instruction from his father — a former Pennsylvania state champion who served in the Navy for 24 years. His high school wrestling coach was the football coach who understood that wrestling would help the football team.
The elder Borrelli would ask his son what he learned in practice and then they would go out in the yard and work on moves. Remember, this is South Carolina so the snow wasn’t a factor during the winter. Tom learned to execute moves and would return to practice and explain the technique. The coach eventually discovered that Tom’s father was a former wrestler and invited him to be an assistant. … story at … Flowrestling.org/Central-michigans-tom-borrelli-took-unconventional-coaching-path
New College Men’s Teams – TDR # 31 – 75
New Men’s Teams; There have been several announcements about teams that will be started or in some cases re-started this fall for the next season. It is encourage to see the continued growth of opportunities for wrestlers to continue their education while competing in the sport.
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New Junior College teams include Andrew College in Georgia., Big Bend Comm. College in Washington will move from club status to the NJCAA. Bismarck State College in North Dakota and Northern Oklahoma will restart their Junior College teams.
In NCAA Division II California State Poly at Humboldt will restart their men’s program. Felican University in New Jersey will start both a men’s and women’s team. Salem University in West Virginia will start a new team in the fall. A D-II team will end at Notre Dame College as the school is closing.
In NCAA Division III new programs have been announced at Maine Maritime Academy, Misericordia University in Pennsylvania, Penn State-Altoona, and Randolph College in Virginia. All schools will also start a women’s program as they expand their athletic opportunities.
In NCAA Division I Tarleton State in Texas will be starting a men’s program along with a women’s team. This increase will be offset by a fairly new D-I team at Queens University has ended this spring.
In NAIA Westcliff University in California will be adding a wrestling program this fall.
As we learn of new programs being started and other changes we will post the news here.
The 2024 HighSchoolOT All-State Boys Wrestling Team
Forty wrestlers are making the team for the second, third, or fourth season and five have made it all four seasons.
The fourth-annual HighSchoolOT boys wrestling all-state team features 40 athletes making an appearance on the team for the second, third, or fourth time, led by five wrestlers who became our first four-time all-state honorees.
Mallard Creek’s Cameron Stinson, Fred T. Foard’s Brayden Mejia, Reidsville’s Rayshun James, Central Cabarrus’ Charleston Baglio, and Robbinsville’s Kage Williams made the team each year of their high school careers.
Stinson and Williams made history in becoming the 13th and 14th wrestlers in NCHSAA history to win four individual championships. Stinson became the third to do it while having never lost in his career. There are six wrestlers at minimum listed with each weight class. The top two are on first team, the next two on second team, and fifth and sixth wrestlers on third team.
Then, 28 honorable mention all-state wrestlers — twice the size of a 14-wrestler starting lineup — are selected without regard to weight class (for instance, 106 pounds could have three HM all-state wrestlers, while 113 could have zero).
The following athletes now have multiple appearances on the HSOT all-state wrestling team, with Stinson leading the way with four first-team appearances:
- 4-time (5): Stinson****, Mejia*, James*, Baglio**, Williams***
- 3-time (11): Seaforth’s Josh Miller*, Cape Fear’s Samuel Aponte**, Cox Mill’s Cooper Davis*, Northwest Guilford’s Eli Pendergrass*, A.L. Brown’s Trevor Freeman**, Lake Norman’s Eli Murray**, Lumberton’s Jackson Buck*, Hough’s Jackson Rowling*, Cardinal Gibbons’ Liam Hickey*, Topsail’s Ian Fritz*, North Iredell’s Bray Trivette
- 2-time (24): Robbinsville’s Alexis Panama; Rolesville’s Frank Bianco; Pisgah’s Kane Bryson; Avery County’s Cael Dunn*, Cooper Foster*, Benjamin Jordan, and Grant Reece; Uwharrie Charter’s Lorenzo Alston*; Kings Mountain’s Jaelen Culp*; Mooresville’s Jace Barrier and Johnny Merriman; Seaforth’s Gabe Rogers; Morehead’s Elijah Horton; Grimsley’s Grant McCord; North East Carolina Prep’s Ryan Mann; Hickory Ridge’s Colt Campbell; Ragsdale’s Bradley Yokum; Trinity’s Spencer May; Northwest Guilford’s Dylan Pepin; Mount Pleasant’s David McEachern*; Davie County’s Hunter Testa*; Union Pines’ Nicholas Mascolino; Cape Fear’s Landon Sargent*; Lincolnton’s Geviaunta Walker* …. rest of story at lists at … Highschoolot.com/2024-highschoolot-all-state-boys-wrestling-team
Service Academies Have Record Year At NCAA Wrestling Championships
All three military service academies had a place winner at the 2024 NCAA Championships, while Coast Guard crowned its first national champion.
The United States military service academies had a banner year at the NCAA Wrestling Championships, including the first national champion for Coast Guard.
Air Force, Army, and Navy had a place winner at the NCAA Division I Championships for the first time since 2003. Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force (3rd at 285 pounds), Ben Pasiuk of Army (8th at 174 pounds), and David Key of Navy (8th at 184 pounds) reached the podium of this year’s national tournament.
Chase Randall of Coast Guard won an NCAA Division III Championship at 133 pounds and was named Oustanding Wrestler. Two of Randall’s teammates, Coy Spooner (6th at 197) and Carl DiGiorgio (3rd at 285), also placed.
Air Force Coach Sam Barber On Service Academies At The 2024 NCAA Championships
“Having all three Division I service academies place athletes on the podium in Kansas City hopefully shines the spotlight on what Kevin (Ward), Cary (Kolat), and myself already know about what is possible at a Federal Service Academy if you are committed to pursuing excellence on and off the mat. “All three Academies have the resources, training partners, and world-class coaches to enhance your growth and development in pursuit of NCAA National Titles, All-American Honors, World Teams, and World Medals. Wyatt, Ben, and David proved that to be true this weekend. I have watched all three athletes improve each year on the mat and as leaders on their teams and within the respective Academies.
“Further, it does not take any more time and effort to compete and win at the highest level at a Service Academy. We have the same 20 hours a week that every other program has. Our athletes have big goals and high inner motivation; the three All-Americans this past weekend got there through their willpower, determination, and hard work. As coaching staff and programs, we impacted the results and supported their efforts by ensuring they had every recourse necessary. We spend our time growing and developing our athletes, and they beat a lot of big-board recruits
“Finally, I never promise any recruit a result or an achievement on the mat. That is up to them as they utilize and maximize the resources we make available to them. What I do promise them is a world-class education, the opportunity to be part of something bigger than themselves, a challenging but fulfilling college experience that will be paid for in a full-ride scholarship, plus a monthly paycheck; upon graduation, you have a guaranteed job making an excellent wage and life long relationships with your brothers in arms that will last your lifetime. “Wyatt, Ben, and David put in the work on and off the mat. … story at … Flowrestling.org/Service-academies-have-record-year-at-ncaa-wrestling-championships
Top 80 All-Time Division I Coaches – TDR # 31 – 74
The coaches are ranked by the number of dual meet wins while they were a head coach at a Division I school.
- Dale Thomas (Oregon State) 616
- Harold Nichols (Iowa St.) 493
- John Smith (Oklahoma State Univ.) 490 (14)
- Gary Taylor (Rider) 442
- Bobby Douglas (Iowa St/CSSB/ArizSU) 440
- J Robinson (Minnesota) 440
- Jack Childs (Drexel) 423
- T.J. Kerr (U. Calif. Bakersfield/San Jose St.) 421
- Wally Johnson (Minnesota Univ.) 392
- John Johnston (Princeton) 382
- Bill Lam (North Carolina Univ.) 378
- Tom Borelli (Central Michigan) 368 (8) up 1 spot
- Lonnie Timmerman (Drake) 364
- Bob Guzzo (N.C. State ) 356
- Dan Gable (Iowa) 355
- Russ Hellickson (Ohio St./Wisc.) 350
- Paul Mance (Appalachian State.) 348
- Rob Koll (North Carolina/Stanford/Cornell) 338 (11)
- Brian Smith (Missouri/Syracuse) 336 (10) up 2 spots
- Gray Simons (ODU, Tenn, L. Haven, Ind. St.) 327
- Carl Adams (Boston Univ.) 326
- Tom Ryan (Ohio State/Hofstra) 322 (15) up 7 spots
- Bob Bubb (Clarion Univ.) 322
- Jack Spates (Oklahoma & Cornell) 322
- Dave Amato (Brown) 319
- Joe Seay (Okla.St., Ca.-Bak., U.Tenn.-Chatt.) 319
- Mark Manning (Nebraska/Northern Iowa) 317 (12) up 3 spots
- Dennis Deliddo (Cal. St. Fresno) 313
- Ron Finley (Oregon Univ.) 311
- Ed Peery (U.S. Naval Academy) 311
- Randy Stottlemyer (Pittsburgh) 304
- Stan Abel (Oklahoma, Cincinnati) 302
- Roger Sanders (Bloomsburg, New York Univ.) 300
- Duane Goldman (Indiana Univ.) 297
- Dick Bonacci (Cleveland State) 296
- Tom Brands (Iowa & Virginia Tech) 294 (12) up 3 spots
- John McHugh (Maryland, Catholic, American) 288
- Craig Turnbull (West Virginia Univ.) 287
- Joe Begala (Kent State Univ.) 282
- Ed Carlin (Syracuse Univ.) 280
- Jim Zalesky (Oregon State/Iowa) 274 (now at NAIA school)
- Clifford Keen (Michigan Univ.) 274
- Tim Flynn (West Virginia/Edinboro St.) 264 (10) up 1 spot
- Dave McCuskey (Iowa / Univ. Northern Iowa) 262
- Ron Gray (Kent St./Franklin & Marshall) 253
- Joel Greenlee (Ohio Univ.) 251 (7) up 1 spot
- Arnold ‘Swede’ Umbach (Auburn Univ) 249
- Roger Reina (Pennsylvania, Univ. of) 248 (6)
- Cael Sanderson (Penn State, Iowa State) 247 (12) up 3 spots
- Pat Popolizio (North Carolina St., SUNY-Bing.) – 245 (14) up 6 spots
- Kevin Dresser (Iowa St./Virginia Tech Un.) 241 (13) up 6 spots
- Red W. Watkins (Appalachian State/Maryville) 239
- Joe McFarland (Michigan/Indiana) 238
- Ed Steers (Army, E.C.U. William&Mary) 235
- Barry Davis (Wisconsin) 234
- Pat Santoro (Lehigh University, Maryland) 232 (7) up 3 spots
- Oscar Gupton (Virginia Military Institute) 232
- Mark Johnson (Illinois & Oregon State) 231
- Tommy Chesbro (Oklahoma State) 227
- Harry Houska (Ohio University) 224
- William Sheridan (Lehigh & Penn) 222
- Scott Goodale (Rutgers University) – 221 (12) up 8 spots
- Bob Carlson (Utah State) 221
- Fred Powell (Slippery Rock State) 221
- Dale Bahr (Michigan) 221
- Bill Harvey (Duke) 220
- Chuck Patten (Northern Iowa Univ.) 217
- Grady Peninger (Michigan State Un.) 213
- Ed Michael (Buffalo) 213
- Fred Davis (Brigham Young Un.) 210
- Bill Koll (Penn State, Northern Iowa, Cornell Coll.) 208
- William “Sully” Krouse (Maryland) 207
- Paul Billy (Delaware Univ.) 206
- Jim Andrassy (Kent State Univ.) 203 (5) up 3 spots
- Jimmy Miller (Cornell Univ.) 203
- Linn Long (So. Illini-Carbondale/Colorado) 203
- Tim Neumann (Nebraska) 199
- Charles Sherwood (Cent. Mich. Un.) 195
- Jerry Cheynet (Virginia Tech) 194
- Charlie Speidel (Penn State) 191
Did Penn State Deliver the Greatest Season in NCAA Wrestling History?
Coach Cael Sanderson’s Nittany Lions won the NCAA Wrestling title with an epic performance in Kansas City.
After the greatest season in Penn State wrestling history — and perhaps the greatest in college wrestling history — the Nittany Lions returned to State College intent on doing it again. Maybe even better next time. “That’s what we do. We always think ahead preparing for the future,” Sanderson told reporters after the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships in Kansas City. “We’ll be back in the room on Monday. We love what we do. We love to train. We love the sport of wrestling. Happy for the guys. Obviously I say this every time but your heart and your mind, you just kind of expect to win and you believe and expect that your guys are going to win. So it’s the ones that don’t quite reach their goal that occupy your mind and your heart.”
Penn State absolutely barnstormed the 2024 NCAA Wrestling Championships, setting a scoring record, smashing the differential record, winning four individual titles, and becoming the first college wrestling program with two four-time champions. And amazingly, Penn State might not have reached its own stratospheric goals. The program sought to become just the second in NCAA history with 10 All-Americans and peered at winning six individual titles, which would have set a new record.
Ultimately, the Nittany Lions settled for eight All-Americans (one writing a tremendous story), 172.5 team points (topping Iowa’s former record), and a 100-point margin of victory, by far the largest in tournament history. Sanderson won his 11th NCAA team title as Penn State’s head coach, tying Oklahoma State’s E.C. Gallagher for the second-most among Division I coaches. Sanderson’s next milestone is 15, the number of titles Dan Gable won at Iowa.
Of course, Penn State’s publicly stoic head coach won’t wade into that territory. Instead, he grew philosophical about the sport itself. “It’s always been a game. That’s just the way I was raised,” Sanderson said. “You want to win every game we play. … story at … SI.com/college/Penn-state-wrestling-2024-ncaa-championships-review
Girls are falling in love with wrestling, the nation’s fastest-growing high school sport
By Marc Levy
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. (AP) — Jody Mikhail was a sophomore at Pennsylvania’s Cumberland Valley High School when a poster for a new girls’ wrestling club caught her eye. So Mikhail, a senior now, tried the sport. “I fell in love with it the first time,” she said.
Unlike previous generations, she’s hardly alone.
Girls’ wrestling has become the fastest-growing high school sport in the country, sanctioned by a surging number of states and bolstered by a movement of medal-winning female wrestlers, parents and the male-dominated ranks of coaches and administrators who saw it as a necessity and a matter of equality. Where once girls wrestled on boys teams and against boys, increasingly they are wrestling on girls teams and against girls. And now that they are wrestling in sanctioned and official tournaments against girls, their names are going onto plaques on their high schools’ walls and into state record books.
This year, Kentucky, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania held their first state-sanctioned girls’ wrestling championships, while Louisiana became the 45th state to sanction the sport. At the collegiate level, women’s wrestling is designated as an “emerging” sport and is on track to become a championship-level sport in 2026, the NCAA said.
A rapidly growing sport
In Pennsylvania — where the Penn State men are ranked No. 1 and the state’s male and female wrestlers dominated last year’s 16-and-under national team championships — the number of girl wrestlers in high schools nearly doubled this year as the state rocketed to more than 180 high school teams from none in 2020.
Hundreds of girls competed in Pennsylvania’s first sanctioned state tournament, including Mikhail, after years of girls having no choice but to wrestle boys or, if they did wrestle girls, seeing the same handful of faces, year after year, in tournaments organized by local wrestling organizations. Even for girls who compete nationally or hope to wrestle in college, wrestling in state-sanctioned tournaments brings status.
“It really does bring this level of, I think, having these girls feel seen,” said Brooke Zumas, a former wrestling coach who was active in the movement to get the sport sanctioned in Pennsylvania.
Girls who have competed for years are seeing new faces and big crowds in this year’s state-sanctioned championship tournaments. “There were never tournaments like this,” said Savannah Witt, a state champion wrestler from Pennsylvania’s Palisades High School who has wrestled for 10 years. “It’s awesome to see. I’ve been used to running into the same, like, three faces at tournaments. Now you come here, I’m like, ‘I don’t know half these girls.’”
Over the past decade, the number of high school girls’ teams quadrupled nationally and the number of girls wrestling in high school quintupled to over 50,000 through last year, according to figures from the National Federation of State High School Associations.
Last year alone, it shot up nearly 60%, the biggest increase for the sport in decades.
Still, the number of girls wrestling in high school was one-fifth of the number of boys last year and the 14th biggest by participation, trailing the stalwarts of American girls’ athletics — track and field, volleyball, soccer, basketball and softball — but also tennis, swimming, golf, lacrosse, cross country and cheerleading. Another leap will likely vault girls’ wrestling past field hockey.
‘The world is changing’
Wrestling is something of a niche sport: it has arcane rules and lacks a mass media presence that helps stoke interest. For many, it takes a family tradition, a brother or a proselytizing coach. And wrestlers and coaches describe it as a sport daunting for its extreme physicality — but a sport that is unmatched in teaching inner strength and discipline.
Some see the rise of girls’ wrestling as part of a larger arc in women’s sports: the U.S. women’s national soccer team has captured the nation’s attention and the Big Ten’s women’s basketball tournament sold out after Caitlin Clark smashed the women’s NCAA scoring record. “When women first had a chance to participate in sports in an organized fashion, it was in sports that were considered feminine,” said Jackie Paquette, who two years ago became the first female executive at the National Wrestling Coaches Association. “It was tennis, it was golf, it was swimming. It was considered graceful. Wrestling is the opposite of that in a sense, so it has been hard for some to accept women in that form. But we are finding out now that the world is changing.”
Still, boosters say wrestling is accessible: there’s a weight class for every body type, there are fewer competing winter sports and all a wrestler needs is a pair of wrestling shoes.
In 1990, barely over 100 girls were on high school rosters in the entire country, and before 2018 just six states had sanctioned it. In 2016, national champion wrestler Sally Roberts founded the advocacy organization Wrestle Like a Girl and began talking to USA Wrestling, the National Wrestling Coaches Association and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame — male-dominated organizations that nevertheless got on board for girls’ wrestling.
Something else happened that year: American wrestler Helen Maroulis scored a shocking victory at the Rio De Janeiro Olympics to win a gold medal — the first ever for an American in women’s wrestling. “Other girls said, ‘I want to be her,’” Roberts said.
Changing minds and stereotypes
Parents and coaches lobbied school boards and athletic directors and recruited girls in their schools. James Stettler, a teacher and a wrestling coach in Pennsylvania’s Central Dauphin district, recalled going to back-to-school nights to hand out fliers to parents. … story at … APnews.com/Wrestling-girls-high-school
Waynesburg adds Women’s Wrestling for 2024-25; names Karli Thomas head coach TDR # 31-73
TDR Editor’s Note; The new Women’s team at Waynesburg is in addition to other Women’s programs that were previously declared. New program at Tarleton State in Texas will join the handful of teams in Division I. Felican University in New Jersey, Ft. Hays State in Kansas, Newberry College in South Carolina and West Liberty State are Division II schools that will start at Women’s wrestling team this fall. Baldwin-Wallace in Ohio, Bethany College in West Virginia, Centenary College (N.J.), Elmhurst University (Illinois), Maine Maritime Academy, Manchester University (Ind.), McDaniel College (Md.), Misericordia University (Penna.), Mount Union University (Ohio), Muhlenberg College (Penna), Otterbein University (Ohio), Penn State-Altoona, Randolph College (Virginia), Buffalo State (NY), Upper Iowa University and Wisconsin-Oshkosh will be new teams in Division III. In addition to these schools are Rio Grande University in Ohio in the NAIA and Junior Colleges such as Big Bend Comm. Coll. in Washington (moving from NCWA to NJCAA), Minnesota North College Itasca, and Northern Oklahoma College. Over 25 new teams will be the new additions to the fastest growing sport in the country. That is Women’s wrestling! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
WAYNESBURG, Pa. (March 27) – Waynesburg University Director of Athletics Tim Fusina announced the addition of women’s wrestling as a varsity sport starting in 2024-25 and named Karli Thomas the program’s head coach on Wednesday.
When the Jackets hit the mats in 2024, Waynesburg will become the eighth collegiate institution to field a women’s wrestling team in Pennsylvania and the first in southwestern PA. “We are excited to announce the addition of women’s wrestling as our next varsity sport beginning this coming winter,” said Fusina. “We have seen a great deal of interest in this sport over the last few years and it is a natural fit to our athletic department. With women’s wrestling being designated as an emerging sport and the popularity the sport has in our region, we are looking forward to providing female student-athletes the opportunity to compete at our institution.” … story at … Waynesburgsports.com/Waynesburg-adds-womens-wrestling-for-2024-25
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After 20 seasons of publicizing wrestling The TakeDown Report’s (TDR) focus has changed to the collecting of college coaching records from North America since 1903. We will continue to recognize and reward successful wrestlers in eastern North Carolina (east of Raleigh & Fayetteville), assist with schools in starting or re-starting a team and this blog. Join us on our FaceBook Page – “The TakeDown Report” for photos and news. Please send results, stories, links and news to pass along. E-mail us at takedownreport@gmail.com
Martin Fleming, Editor
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