But they weren't. And McMahon credited that spirit and the team's close-knit nature with winning them the inaugural IHSAA girls wrestling championship. Start the day smarter.

Although there isn’t an official event, coaches around the state stepped up this year by forming the Girls Dual Championship – a 12-team event held at Howell earlier this month.

Although there isn’t an official event, coaches around the state stepped up this year by forming the Girls Dual Championship – a 12-team event held at Howell earlier this month.

Girls high school wrestling is expanding across the country. The trend is the same in Nevada, even though the sport isn’t fully sanctioned by the NIAA.

Jack Nelson There were barely 100 girls rostered on high school wrestling teams across the country in 1990, per the Associated Press. Just six states had sanctioned the sport prior to 2018.

We are making progress.” He said adding the girls teams doesn’t take away from boys programs; it’s growing the sport. “This kind of growth has never happened before,” Clark said.

"We all want girls wrestling to grow," Olds said. "There's just a lot of camaraderie between the girls. Even after every match, you'll see girls that just battled for six minutes hug each other.

CHATFIELD — Girls wrestling had always been popular in Chatfield. But by the time girls in the sport reached high school — with the only option to wrestle with the boys — they often gave it up.

“They didn’t want to be the only ones.” Thirty-two girls competed at last year’s Anne Arundel County girls wrestling tournament. This year, it more than doubled to 82.

Easton and Allentown followed not long after. Today, girls wrestling is an official PIAA sport, with more than 200 teams.

Last season, Prince George had 20 girls on its wrestling team compared to just three or four a few years ago. The sport has grown exponentially and Wednesday, the Virginia High School League‘s ...