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With 101 schools on board, girls wrestling can become official PIAA sport, pending vote

erie times-news
·3 min read

Girls wrestling is one of the fastest growing high school sports in the country.

Add Pennsylvania to the list of states that likely soon will sanction the sport with its state high school association.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association required 100 schools to sponsor girls wrestling programs before voting to sanction it as an official sport for championship events. That threshold has been reached, with the list of schools — including four from District 10 — reaching 100 on Tuesday and getting to 101 on Wednesday.

For subscribers: Erie-area athletes, coaches react to girls wrestling becoming an official PIAA-sanctioned sport

The PIAA Board of Directors likely will discuss girls wrestling at meetings in February and March and could vote on sanctioning it soon.

Growing numbers in state, nation

During the 2021-22 season, there were more than 34,000 girls wrestling at the high school level in the country, according to SanctionPA.

Some other numbers to ponder from SanctionPA and the National Federation of State High School Associations:

  • 12: Number of PIAA district areas (all of them) that have girls participating in wrestling at their schools

  • 37: States which the NFHS lists as sanctioning regular-season and postseason girls wrestling.

  • 124: Number of colleges that have women's wrestling, including nine in Pennsylvania

  • 565: Number of girls wrestling on more than 100 Pennsylvania high school teams during the 2021-22 season. That number was a nearly 200% increase from three years earlier.

  • 21,124: Girls participating in wrestling during the 2018-19 season, according to an NFHS.org participation survey. There were 4,975 participants nationally in 2005.

Erie County female sports pioneers: Women who have made a difference in area athletics

Pennsylvania's girls wrestling programs

The following is the list of 101 schools and the date when they formally committed to sanctioning a girls wrestling program, according to SanctionPA.com. District 10 schools are in bold:

2020

  • March 17: J.P. McCaskey

  • May 26: Easton

  • May 29: Executive Education Academy

  • June 24: North Allegheny

  • Sept. 10: Central Mountain

  • Sept. 21: Governor Mifflin; Annville-Cleona

  • Oct. 5: Gettysburg

  • Nov. 2: Brandywine Heights

2021

  • April 15: Delaware Valley

  • June 16: Western Wayne

  • June 17: Bald Eagle Area

  • June 22: Parkland

  • Aug. 17: Exeter Township

  • Sept. 24: Souderton

  • Oct. 12: Newport

  • Oct. 18: Seneca

  • Oct. 19: Milton

  • Oct. 28: Canon-McMillan

  • Nov. 1: Connellsville

  • Nov. 9: Hanover Area

  • Nov. 15: Penn Manor; Honesdale

  • Nov. 16: Chestnut Ridge

  • Nov. 17: Big Spring

  • Nov. 18: Greater Nanticoke

  • Dec. 7: Warwick; Athens

  • Dec. 10: Wallenpaupack

  • Dec. 16: Manheim Township

  • Dec. 20: Kiski Area

2022

  • Jan. 13: Berks Catholic

  • Jan. 26: Southmoreland

  • Jan. 27: Mercer

  • Feb. 23: Palisades

  • April 12: Northern Bedford

  • April 19: Montgomery

  • May 9: Wyomissing

  • May 16: Lampeter-Strasburg

  • June 8: Bishop McCort

  • June 9: Pequea Valley

  • June 13: Cumberland Valley; Montrose

  • June 14: Boyertown

  • June 16: Curwensville; Plum

  • June 23: Octarara

  • June 26: Reading

  • June 27: Fort Cherry; Spring Grove

  • June 28: Bensalem

  • June 29: Harry S. Truman

  • July 11: Saegertown

  • July 20: South Western

  • Aug. 17: General McLane

  • Aug. 24: Pine Grove

  • Sept. 7: Seneca Valley

  • Sept. 13: William Tennent

  • Sept. 15: Bethlehem Catholic; Dallastown

  • Sept. 21: Quakertown

  • Sept. 26: Freedom; Liberty

  • Sept. 27: North Penn

  • Sept. 29: Laurel

  • Oct. 6: Mount Lebanon

  • Oct. 13: Donegal

  • Oct. 17: Lebanon

  • Oct. 24: Schuylkill Valley; Moon Township

  • Oct. 25: Elizabethtown

  • Nov. 14: Burgettstown

  • Nov. 15: Hughesville

  • Nov. 18: Wilkes-Barre Area; Pine-Richland; Penn Hills

  • Nov. 21: Tamaqua and Wilson

  • Nov. 30; Hempfield; Central Cambria

  • Dec. 5: Bedford

  • Dec. 6: Hazleton

  • Dec. 7: Camp Hill

  • Dec. 13: Trinity

  • Dec. 15: United

  • Dec. 20: Lehighton

  • Dec. 21: Pocono Mountain East; Pocono Mountain West

2023

  • Jan. 9: Boiling Springs

  • Jan. 17: Benton

  • Jan. 19: Claysburg-Kimmel

  • Jan. 22: Mid Valley

  • Jan. 25: Sun Valley

  • Jan. 26: Philipsburg-Osceola

  • Feb. 9: Lancaster Catholic; Upper Perkiomen

  • Feb. 13: Perkiomen Valley

  • Feb. 14: Pennridge

  • Feb. 15: Coatesville

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PIAA decision ahead as 101 schools to sponsor girls wrestling programs