PIAA has 100th school to OK sport

Hits number to qualify for consideration for full sponsorship

SanctionPA cleared the first hurdle Tuesday when Pennridge became the 100th PIAA school to approve girls wrestling.

That is the magic number that fulfills the standard set forth by the PIAA, the state’s high school athletics governing body, to qualify the sport for consideration for full sponsorship.

The momentum of girls wrestling in the state hit its stride at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, with 46 schools approving official programs since September 2022.

SanctionPA, the concerted initiative to pave a path for Pennsylvania high school girls wrestling, launched in March 2020. The initiative provides advocacy, education, resources, promotional material and collaboration with schools to work toward getting the sport approved.

“Meeting the 100-school threshold further cements SanctionPA’s viewpoint that if you create equitable opportunities for girls athletics, growth will follow,” SanctionPA president Brooke Zumas said. “When we launched this initiative in March 2020, girls wrestling as a whole was treated as a novelty and not as legitimate sport on its own validation.

“But with the collaborative work of people across Pennsylvania it is clear that girls wrestling is a robust and needed sport that fulfills what was a void in the wrestling community and our state. In a few weeks athletes will compete in what we hope to be the last non-PIAA sanctioned Pennsylvania girls wrestling state tournament.”

High school girls wrestling participation in Pennsylvania grew by more than 80% during the 202223 season, and has more than 400% growth the past five years. There are 38 state high school associations sanctioning a girls wrestling state championship.

The PIAA last year unanimously

voted to approve girls wrestling as a PIAA Emerging Sport under its new emerging sport process. This designation indicates that girls wrestling is a sport that the PIAA is tracking for potential full sponsorship and demonstrates that girls wrestling has a clear plan and path to sanctioning in the PIAA’s eyes.

“PIAA would like to congratulate those member schools that are sponsoring girls’ wrestling and supporting their growth,” PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said. “We are looking forward to developing a first-class program to highlight these athletes and wish to thank all those involved with Sanction PA for their commitment to this growing sport.”

Across the state, the SanctionPA campaign provided educational information and resources to help grow opportunities for girls wrestling and promote the addition of girls wrestling programs.

Morning Call reporter Tom Housenick can be reached at 610-820-6651 or at thousenick@mcall.com

THE MAGIC NUMBER

Here are the 100schools in order that have approved girls wrestling as a sport:

No. School (District)

1. J.P. McCaskey (3)

2. Easton (11)

3. Executive Education (11)

4. North Allegheny (7)

5. Central Mountain (6)

6. Governor Mifflin (3)

7. Annville-Cleona (3)

8. Gettysburg (3)

9. Brandywine Heights (3)

10. Delaware Valley (2)

11. Western Wayne (2)

12. Bald Eagle Area (6)

13. Parkland (11)

14. Exeter (3)

15. Souderton (1)

16. Newport (3)

17. Seneca (10)

18. Milton (4)

19. Canon-McMillan (7)

20. Connellsville (7)

21. Hanover Area (2)

22. Honesdale (2)

23. Penn Manor (3)

24. Chestnut Ridge (5)

25. Big Spring (3)

26. Nanticoke Area (2)

27. Warwick (3)

28. Athens (4)

29. Wallenpaupack (2)

30. Manheim Township (3) 31. Kiski Area (7) 32. Berks Catholic (3) 33. Southmoreland (7) 34. Mercer (10) 35. Palisades (11) 36. Northern Bedford (6)

37. Montgomery (4) 38. Wyomissing (3)

39. Lampeter-Strasburg (3) 40. Bishop McCort (6) 41. Pequea Valley (3) 42. Cumberland Valley (3) 43. Montrose

(2) 44. Boyertown (3) 45. Curwensville (9) 46. Palmyra (3) 47. Plum (7)

48. Octorara (3) 49. Reading (3) 50.

Fort Cherry (7) 51. Spring Grove (3) 52. Bensalem (1) 53. Harry S. Truman (1)

54. Saegertown (10) 55. South Western (3) 56. General McLane (10) 57. Pine Grove (11) 58. Seneca Valley (7) 59. William Tennent (1) 60. Bethlehem Catholic (11) 61. Dallastown (3) 62. Quakertown (1) 63. Freedom (11) 64. Liberty (11) 65. Hamburg (3) 66. North Penn (1) 67. Laurel (7) 68. Mount Lebanon (7) 69. Donegal (3) 70. Lebanon (3)

71. Schuylkill Valley (3) 72. Moon (7)

73. Elizabethtown (3) 74: Burgettstown (7) 75. Hughesville (4) 76. Wilkes-Barre (2) 77. Pine-Richland (7) 78. Penn Hills (7) 79. Tamaqua (11) 80. Wilson-West Lawn (3) 81. Hempfield (3) 82. Central Cambria (6) 83. Bedford (6) 84. Hazleton Area (2) 85. Camp Hill (3) 86. Trinity (3) 87. United (6) 88. Lehighton (11) 89. Pocono Mountain West (11) 90. Pocono Mountain East (11) 91. Boiling Springs (3) 92. Benton (4) 93. Claysburg-Kimmel (6) 94. Mid-Valley (2) 95. Sun Valley (1) 96. Philipsburg-Osceola (6) 97. Lancaster Catholic (3) 98. Upper Perkiomen (1) 99. Perkiomen Valley (1) 100. Pennridge (1)

By district: District 1(10teams); District 2(10); District 3(34); District 4 (5); District 5(1); District 6(9); District 7 (14); District 8(0); District 9(1); District 10(4); District 11(12); District 12(0).