A first for Section V: Canandaigua to field varsity girls wrestling team

Eric Mullen is at both ends of the rope in that he cares, but at the same time he doesn’t.

“I’m a fan of wrestling, period,” the Canandaigua Academy coach said. “It’s never really mattered who is wrestling as long as people are wrestling.”

That’s the type of outlook to be expected from someone who loves the sport as much as Mullen does. And it’s why he was behind a big push to make the wrestling community even bigger at CA and to lead the charge for the addition of girls wrestling as a varsity sport. And this winter, it will happen.

Canandaigua will be the first school in Section V to offer varsity wrestling, as well as at the modified level, for girls. The move comes after several recent events to showcase girls wrestling, including an intersectional tournament at SUNY Brockport in 2020, the first dual match for girls in Section V history in March of 2021, a girls division at the Bradshaw Tournament in Canandaigua in January and the Intersectional Women’s Wrestling Championship at Chautauqua Lake in February.

This isn't a first for Canandaigua, though. In 1993, the district was one of the first in Section V to field a girls lacrosse team. Today, Section V has 31 girls lacrosse teams.

More:Section V girls make history with first dual wrestling match

Generating interest in wrestling is one thing, but turning that into participation is another and the increase in numbers can’t be ignored. The Chautauqua Lake event drew about 25 girls from 14 area schools, including Canandaigua, Marcus Whitman and Midlakes.

That’s a big reason Mullen approached district officials in Canandaigua in March about the desire to form a varsity team for the girls.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Mullen, who will coach the boys and girls wrestling teams at CA. “And I’m happy that our district will be a leader in that regard.”

Canandaigua senior Sophie Pollack is thrilled to be part of the movement.

“I never really expected it before I graduated,” she said. “But it’s very exciting. It’s exciting to think that at one point, there were boys who were the first people to be on their team and now I get to be like them. I get to say the same thing.”

Across New York, there are about 20 schools fielding varsity teams for girls. The ultimate goal is a state championship tournament for the girls but first, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association needs to sanction the sport and that’s not far off.

Last winter, NYSPHSAA estimated about 300 girl wrestlers across New York and the vast majority wrestled on boys teams at their schools. In Section V, there are approximately 52 girls who wrestled last season.

That level of participation has girls wrestling close to the status of an “emerging sport.” To gain that officially, there must be four girls teams in four different sections of New York. Once six sections have at least four teams, NYSPHSAA can grant “championship status” to girls wrestling.

Most of the girls wrestling today wrestle against boys but Mullen said research has shown that if there are other girls to wrestle girls, participation numbers will grow even more. And he’s as quick as a shooting wrestler to knock down any suggestion that girls don’t belong on the mat.

“That style of thinking is so outdated,” he said. “It’s important to me to take this first step. We’ve always had girls reach out and express interest … if you want the sport to grow, you should take anybody that wants to wrestle and if you offer it to the girls, more girls will come out.”

Mullen can’t be sure of how many girls will be varsity wrestlers this season at Canandaigua, but he knows he’ll have Pollack and others. More are on the way, too, with about a dozen girls involved with last year’s youth wrestling program at CA.

In addition to preparing for matches, Pollack is doing her part to prepare for the future of girls wrestling. She said it’s been difficult to convince girls her age (juniors and seniors) to give wrestling a try, but younger girls in the freshmen and sophomore classes have been more receptive.

“They’re definitely more interested,” said Pollack, who is weighing several collegiate wrestling options that include East Stroudsburg University, Iowa and Elmira.

For the 2022-23 season, most of the varsity girls wrestling will be tournament-based. The structure is different from the boys in that there aren’t specific weight classes. At the Chautauqua Lake tournament, the Madison System was used where wrestlers weigh in prior to the event and are then grouped within weight ranges instead of specific weights.

“The girls model will be unique,” said Mullen. “We’ll design a model to fit the girls.”

This article originally appeared on MPNnow: In Canandaigua, Section V girls wrestling becomes varsity sport