By C.D. DESALVO
Hays Post
For almost 30 years, high school girls wrestling has quietly grown both nationally and in the state of Kansas. But in recent years, the growth has been substantial and not so quiet.
Just fewer than 9,000 girls participated in wrestling nationally in 2012 and, in just a five-year span, that number ballooned to 14,587 girls in 2017. Despite the dramatic increase in participants, girls wrestling is still not a sanctioned by a majority of state high school athletic associations including Kansas.
The few states that have sanctioned high school girls wrestling have experienced huge numbers of growth in competition due to the fact that the girls participating can wrestle against other girls for post season tournaments instead of wrestling boys like in non-sanctioned states.
For example:
• The state of Tennessee experienced 294 percent growth in girls wrestling participants from 2014-2017 after sanctioning the sport in 2015.
• California participants increased by 202 percent from 2010-2017.
• Washington state sanctioned girls wrestling in 2007 and had a 628 percent participation increase over the next 10 years.
Although girls wrestling is not a sanctioned sport in Kansas (meaning there is no official girls post season tournament), there has been a growth in girls divisions and tournaments throughout the regular season in the past two years. According to McPherson wrestling coach Doug Kretzer, prior to 2017, there were no girls tournaments or divisions for Kansas girls to wrestle other girls unless they happened to face another school that also had a girl wrestler. In 2017, Kretzer lead the charge in holding a girls-only competition.
“Just by letting girls know that we were going to find competition for them and give them the opportunity to compete against other girls any chance we got, even if it was only in practice, we had 13 girls come out for wrestling and not a single one quit,” Kretzer said. “We at McPherson decided to have a girls division at our JV tournament in December of 2017. Thirteen schools brought girls, and we wrestled the first-ever girls tournament and girls-only division in the state of Kansas.”
After other schools realized that there were plenty of participants to hold girls-only events, three more competitions took place in 2017 throughout the state, including a unofficial girls state tournament to finish the year hosted by McPherson High School and Coach Kretzer. In that inaugural state tournament in February 2017, 36 schools with a total of 56 girls competed for a state title. This year, there were nine total girls events in Kansas and again McPherson hosted an unofficial state tournament. Fifty-seven schools showed up and 145 girls competed in the tournament.
“We went from never having a single girls competition in the state of Kansas to four last year then to nine this year,” Kretzer said. “The girls that are saying yes with the limited opportunity. What happens if you turn them loose against other girls? Girls wrestling is just waiting to blow up, in my opinion.”
One of the schools participating in this year’s state tournament for the first time was Trego Community High School. Freshmen Jessika Chapman and Sydney Boyle competed in the tournament, but when they first stepped on the mat this year, Trego wrestling coach Jeremy Sampson wasn’t sure what to do with them.
“I told the girls and their parents from the beginning that I was not going to expect anything less from you that I expect from the boys. I made them fully aware of that going in and they never once complained,” Sampson said. “They did the workouts the boys did and they knew their practice partners were going to be boys most of the time because they were in different weight classes and I couldn’t always put them together.”
Both freshmen wrestled in the varsity lineup for Trego County (the only Mid-Continent League team that has female wrestlers) during the season and mostly wrestled against boys.
“They competed hard and took knocks each and every week, but every Monday they would come back to practice with smiles on their faces when they came into the wrestling room,” Sampson said. “I told them I was going to try and get them into some girls-only events.”
It was at this year’s unofficial state tournament in McPherson that Sampson realized the potential of girls wrestling in Kansas.
“I’m telling you, that event opened up my eyes,” he said. “It’s not a fad. It’s the real thing. They’re not going to take no for an answer and if they have to compete against boys, they’re going to compete against boys, but I think they’re just asking for that opportunity to wrestle against girls.”
Sydney and Jessika wanted to ask for that opportunity publicly which lead to this video being posted on the Trego Wrestling Facebook and Twitter pages a few weeks ago:
“Girls are just asking for an opportunity for KSHSAA to recognize what they’re doing. Watching the passion that the girls had at the girls championships in McPherson … they deserve an opportunity to compete against girls. It was amazing to watch it and it opened my eyes to what it really is,” Sampson said.
The outreach to KSHSAA to sanction girls wrestling in the state of Kansas has not fallen on deaf ears. Mark Lentz, the KSHSAA assistant director in charge of wrestling, was in attendance at the girls state tournament in McPherson.
“It’s nice to see people interested in participating and growing the sport,” Lentz said. “I personally went out and watched the unsanctioned state event that they had in McPherson. I wanted to see the participation and interaction. I think there are some real positives from it.”
For a sport to get sanctioned by KSHSAA, the group of individuals and/or schools would need to get the support of member schools of the association. After that, they will go through the Kansas Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association and the Kansas Coaches Association to bring that to the board of the KSHSAA. The board makes the decision as to whether it will sanction postseason for females.
Kretzer presented to the board last year, but the proposal did not pass. However, there will be another proposal this spring.
“They gave some good ideas and thoughts last year,” said Lentz, who is an administrator and not on the board. “They’ve shown growth, so we’ll see what the board decides this time. I don’t think you ever shut the door to it at all.”
While high school girl’s wrestling is still unsanctioned currently for postseason, the growth is undeniable and having a sanctioned postseason event becomes more of a possibility as the participation numbers continue to climb.
It’s uncertain when and if it will be sanctioned but one thing is for sure — the girls and coaches that support them will continue to pave the way for the girls coming in after them and keep fighting for the opportunity to wrestle other girls.
“I asked, ‘Which of you girls are willing to go out there and fight for all the girls both before and after you?,’ ” Kretzer said. “Girls are powerful … they’re motivated. There’s a place for everyone in the sport of wrestling.”