Girls wrestling becoming increasingly popular in Ohio
CASSTOWN, Ohio (BVM) — Always seen as predominantly a male competition, high school wrestling has taken off in recent years as a girls sport. According to the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), the number of girls who wrestled in high schools across the country in 1994 was 804. Twenty-six years later, that number has jumped to over 20,000.
One state that is specifically seeing the evolution first hand is Ohio, as 2020 was the first time they hosted an official girls high school wrestling tournament. The inaugural event was held in February at Hilliard Davidson High School near Columbus.
Miami East High School came out as the winner for the team portion of the event and did so in dominating fashion with 149.5 points, over 25 points more than second place Olentangy Orange. George Shore is the head coach of the Miami East girls wrestling team. He has been involved with the boys program for six years and became the head coach of the girls team this year – the first for Vikings girls wrestling.
George and his wife, Tracie, have eight kids. Most of them have been involved with wrestling in some shape or form throughout their life. Their daughter, Olivia, is currently a standout wrestler at Miami East. Not only did she win individually in the 111-pound weight class in this year’s girls state tournament, but she also took home an individual title last year in the boys tournament.
Ever since Olivia began with the sport 13 years ago, the Shores have been major advocates for girls wrestling in Ohio. However, back then there were very few girls wrestling in the state. When Olivia first started over a decade ago, she went to compete in Oklahoma at the national championships and was the only girl from Ohio. Five to six years later though, that number increased to 31. The amount of girls continues to grow as George notes that they “have started to realize there’s a place for them.”
Over the last five years, more clubs and organizations have begun to hold wrestling events for girls in Ohio, giving them further opportunities to participate in the sport. One group specifically is the Ohio Wrestling Association for Youth, which has held a girls tournament for eight years. Tracie credits this group as the first organization to hold a tournament and sponsor national teams, doing so just to give girls an opportunity while not worrying about the cost.
Last year, there were over 200 high school girls who were on wrestling teams in Ohio. That number grew exponentially to over 460 girls this year. The numbers continue to increase at the junior high and youth levels as well. The sport clearly is gaining popularity with the girls, and there is no slow down in sight.
“At this point it’s going to blow up. It wouldn’t surprise me if we end up with 1,000 girls that sign up for high school wrestling already next year,” George said.
One step that will likely take place in the near future to further cement the sport in Ohio is girls wrestling being sanctioned by the Ohio High School Athletics Association (OHSAA). Currently, the sport and tournament are run by the Ohio High School Wrestling Coach’s Association (OHSWCA), but according to George it shouldn’t be long before the OHSAA gets involved.
“I would say within the next two years they [OHSAA] are going to sanction it and every girl in Ohio will have the opportunity to join a wrestling team,” he said.
According to the NWCA, there are currently 20 states across the U.S. which have girls wrestling as a sanctioned high school sport. Ohio, as well as a lot of neighboring states in the upper midwest, are yet to sanction it making many feel they are behind the curve.
“We’re definitely behind because I feel like we proved our talent and proved our numbers,” George explained.
However, behind a motivated OHSAA, the Shores know it’s coming soon. Daughter Olivia also deserves a lot of the credit for the push of girls wrestling to be sanctioned.
“I think the real kicker is when Olivia made it to boys state last year,” Tracie said. “That took a boy’s spot and that made them notice.”
Olivia was the second girl ever to make it to the boys state tournament, joining Paige Nemec who first accomplished the feat a decade ago.
The OHSWCA finally putting a girls state tournament together for the first time was another step towards the eventual sanction of the sport. With more and more girls not only wrestling, but truly excelling at it, it was finally time they had their own competition.
“We had several girls who had qualified for districts last year,” Tracie said. “They realized that we’re coming.”
Overall, the first tournament at Hilliard Davidson was a success.
“They did a really fabulous job,” George said when speaking about the OHSWCA putting on the event. “They really took to it and they went out of their way to make it right.”
The tournament featured 99 schools participating with over 260 girls competing. All of the same medals and trophies which are given to the boys were given to the girls as well.
While some might believe the product of boys and girls wrestling would be different, George certainly doesn’t think so.
“What I’ve learned is you treat them the same, you train them the same, you teach them the same techniques and you teach them the same motivation,” he said. “It’s really exactly the same.”
For the girls, it truly means a lot to finally be able to have this sport for their own.
“It’s motivated the girls who have wrestled and it’s motivated a lot more girls to step up to the plate. It means everything to have an even playing field, it’s just priceless,” George said.
It means a lot to Olivia as well, as her and some of the other top girls wrestlers in Ohio have “carried the movement on their backs since they were kids,” according to George. “She’s super proud of the movement,” he also mentioned.
Olivia will continue to carry on what has already been a decorated wrestling career. The Vikings standout won six national championships over her youth career and is a two-time world team member, representing the U.S. at the world championships in Athens, Greece and later in Croatia, where she became ranked fifth in the world.
“It’s been said she’s the most recognizable face in women’s wrestling,” George said.
Olivia aspires to compete at the Olympics in the future as well.
An exceptional wrestler in Olivia and an impressive family as a whole in the Shores have helped spearhead the girls wrestling movement in Ohio, and it continues to grow.
When asked where he sees girls wrestling in 10 years, George exclaimed, “It’s going to be in every high school in Ohio. They’ll have sectionals and districts across the country. The quality of wrestling across Ohio and across the country in 10 years will be top of the world.”
Girls wrestling has clearly evolved and will continue to grow in the future. More and more girls keep joining the sport which they can now call theirs. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of those like George, Tracie, Olivia, and the rest of the Shore family, there is no doubt the sport is in good hands in Ohio.
