Girls wrestling takes off for Wallenpaupack High School
HAWLEY, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s momentum to sanction girls high school wrestling is picking up momentum. Wallenpaupack has formed a team, becoming the 29th school in the state to sponsor the sport.
For the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association to sponsor a sport, there has to be 100 schools who sponsor the sport. After nine schools joined the initial wave, there has been a surge in 2021 with 22 more joining to bring the total to 31.
North Allegheny was one of the teams that started a team in 2020. Coach Dan Heckert has been actively involved with trying to expand opportunities for female wrestlers.
“We wanted to create opportunities for girls,” Heckert said. “They can compete in the Olympics and in college. With Pennsylvania being a hotbed for wrestling, why should we sit back and wait?”
Wallenpaupack is the fourth school from the Lackawanna League to start a girls wrestling team. The Lady Buckhorns currently have one wrestler, sophomore Sara Shook, who wrestles at 138 pounds on the boys team. She is 0-2 thus far this season.
“The four (Lackawanna League) schools that have bought in realize the opportunity is there,” Wallenpaupack head coach Steve Krushnowski told the Scranton Times-Tribune. “We’re trying to get it rolling. It’s a little bit late in the year, but the school board was all in. As a district, it’s the right time. If not now, when?”
Because the sport is not yet sponsored by the state, there are no formal weight classes. Upon arriving at tournaments that have a girls division, there will be a “madison system” in place. All of the competitors will be put into weight divisions that will be split between the number of entrants.
Wallenpaupack had a number of girls come out for a camp for middle school and high school wrestlers.
“Any girls we can get to compete is a success,” Krushnowski told the Times-Tribune.
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