Girls wrestling may soon become an officially recognized sport in Pa.
Steve Pope / AP photo
Cassy Herkelman of Cedar Falls, right, wrestles Matt Victor of Indianola in a 112-pound Class 3A quarterfinal match Friday, February 18, 2011 in Des Moines, Iowa. Herkelman lost 5-1 to Victor on points. (AP Photo/Steve Pope)
Girls’ wrestling in Pennsylvania is on track to become a fully sponsored sport by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association after crossing the 100 school threshold.
Philipsburg-Osceola was the second school district in Center County and 96th in the state to add girl wrestling following a January 26 school board vote. He joined the Bald Eagle Area School District as the only school district in the district to offer sports.
Kelly Rees is the athletic director at Philipsburg-Osceola. She said support for making girls’ wrestling an official sport was widespread.
“I think we saw that not only the students are interested, but also the parents,” Rees said. “We have some parents who are very supportive of their children and are very vocal.”
On February 14, the Pennridge School District in Bucks County became the 100th school to institute an all-girls wrestling program. The milestone means girls’ wrestling is now eligible to move forward with PIAA sponsorship.
When officially recognized, girls’ wrestling will be permitted to hold PIAA-sanctioned regional and state tournaments and championship events instead of having to compete with either boys’ wrestling teams or at non-PIAA-sanctioned events.
Justin Fye is the head coach of the Philipsburg-Osceola wrestling team. He said girl wrestling offers new opportunities for female students and should be officially recognized.
“This is just another opportunity that girls have to compete in a sport and it could open the door for a lot of girls,” said Faye. “If you look, a lot of colleges are now taking girls into wrestling and this could be an opportunity to get a college scholarship.”
Now that the threshold has been reached, the PIAA Board of Directors will hold three sessions to vote on whether girls’ wrestling should become a sanctioned sport in the state. It currently passed one vote and requires two more approvals to become a PIAA sport.