Girls wrestling qualifies for PIAA consideration

Pennridge becomes 100th program to adopt sport

SanctionPA has announced that the 100th school in Pennsylvania has voted to approve a girls wrestling program, fulfilling the standard set forth by the state’s high school athletics governing body to qualify the sport of girls wrestling 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. Today, Pennridge School District formed a girls wrestling program at their high school, solidifying them as No. 100 to create an officially recognized team.

SanctionPA, the concerted initiative to pave a pathway for Pennsylvania high school girls wrestling, was launched in March 2020.

The initiative introduced grassroots efforts to meet the goal of 100 schools, which includes general advocacy, education, resources, promotional material and collaboration with schools to work towards getting high school girls wrestling programs approved. In less than three years, which included the COVID-19 pandemic, the group was able to successfully mobilize schools across the state to organize and create official girls programs.

High school girls wrestling participation in Pennsylvania grew by over 80% during the 202223 season and has experienced over a 400% growth in the past five years. All 12 PIAA district areas have girls wrestling within their area schools. Nationally, there are now 38 state high school associations sanctioning a girls wrestling state championship.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) current rules require a minimum of 100 schools to form official girls wrestling programs before fully sanctioning a sport. Last year the organization unanimously voted to approve girls wrestling as a PIAA Emerging Sport under their 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.

Across the state, the SanctionPA campaign has worked, and will continue, to provide educational information and resources to help grow opportunities for girls wrestling and to help promote the addition of girls wrestling programs.

“Meeting the 100-school threshold further cements SanctionPA’s viewpoint that if you create equitable opportunities for girls athletics, growth will follow,” said Brooke Zumas, president of SanctionPA.

“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-PIAAsanctioned Pennsylvania girls wrestling state tournament. We congratulate each and every school and athlete, past and present, who helped pave the pathway for the great sport of girls wrestling in Pennsylvania.”