Cumberland Valley girls wrestling club pushing towards path of greater opportunities
MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Girls wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the country. The number of girls participating has grown significantly over the last 10 years. Mirroring the national statistics, Pennsylvania high school wrestling has experienced over a 200% increase of girls on high school boys teams in the past several years. All 12 PIAA district areas have girls wrestling within their area schools. While the majority of state high school associations sanction a girls state championship, Pennsylvania does not yet have an official state tournament and has not sanctioned girls wrestling as a sport.
Over the years, Cumberland Valley has had girls who wrestled, but many quit by the time they got to high school. When girls enter middle and high school years, they prefer to wrestle girls rather than boys. In recent years, more and more girls have shown interest in Cumberland Valley’s Youth Wrestling Program, with lots of interest from elementary girls growing, especially during COVID. It was then we knew that we had the responsibility to ensure that Cumberland Valley girls had the same opportunities to grow and thrive in wrestling compared to their male counterparts. We decided that in the 2021-22 season we would focus on creating a space for junior high and high school girls to experience and participate in wrestling.
The Cumberland Valley Wrestling Booster Club
The Cumberland Valley Wrestling Booster Club voted to sponsor the operation of a girl’s 6th-12th grade girls only team. Through promotion and recruitment, we were able to build the first ever Cumberland Valley Girls Wrestling Club. In it’s very first year we continue to see growth and competition success. The goal is for the school district to vote to officially recognize girls wrestling and the club will transform into an official school team.
The Cumberland Valley Wrestling Booster Club represents about 250 wrestlers in grades K-12.!
Who Can Wrestle?
Any K-12 student in the Cumberland Valley School District is welcome to explore wrestling through the offerings of the Cumberland Valley Wrestling Booster Club or school sponsored activities. Currently the girl’s wrestling program is offered through the booster club and is currently split-up between k-5th grade and 6th – 12th grade. You can learn more at https://cvwrestling.net.
Tournaments
We compete in girls wrestling tournaments throughout Pennsylvania, including the upcoming Girls Wrestling State Championship, which are currently hosted by PA USA Wrestling in lieu of an official PIAA state championship.
Success Stories
After about one month of wrestling, 7 of our girls traveled to Central Mountain High School for the Queen of the Mountain tournament. The event was attended by 23 teams across PA –about 120 girls total. This was the first wrestling competition of any type for all 7 girls we took, and we placed 8th of 23 teams. We beat 8 other schools that have a girls team already or voted to have one next year. In February, we traveled to Easton to compete in the Lady Rover Invitational with 13 girls. The tournament hosted nearly 130 girls from 19 schools. We finished 5th of 19 teams and again beat 8 other schools who already have a girls’ team. These have been big moments for our team and our wrestlers, as it solidified that we are poised to do great things. The Cumberland Valley Girls Wrestling Team is already making a name for itself… and we are just getting started!
Let’s Hear it From the Coaches and the Girls
About half of our wrestlers have knowledge of wrestling because of having friends or siblings who have wrestled. Some of our wrestlers had no prior knowledge or experience of wrestling, and bravely walked onto the mat ready to try something completely new. Coach Ryan Seagreaves has children who have wrestled and wrestled through childhood in the Lehigh Valley and at West Point. Both Assistant Coach Tom Bruscino and Assistant Coach Leah Wright have children who wrestle, including daughters.
Coach Ryan Seagreaves, Cumberland Valley Girls Wrestling Club says this, “We are giving girls the opportunity to be part of a team, and to develop the camaraderie with their teammates that comes from sharing hardships. We are giving them the opportunity to participate in a sport that develops athleticism, leadership, discipline, self-mastery, and focus, promotes personal responsibility, develops mental and emotional resilience, and teaches about nutrition and proper recovery. But make no mistake, we are doing all that in the context of training our athletes to compete and win at the highest level of girls wrestling in the state. And we’re in Pennsylvania, man. Wrestling is competitive at every level.”
Mari Bruscino, 9th Grader, had this to say, “Wrestling is a very competitive and challenging sport, which is what I enjoy. I want to improve my skills and place at states this year. My overall goal is to be one of the first girls state champions from Cumberland Valley. Other girls should consider wrestling to not only learn valuable life lessons and make amazing new friends, but also be a part of history. Girls wrestling is the fastest growing sport in the country. Joining wrestling can mean that you can be a part of that history.”
Mary Mikhail, 8th Grader, shared the following, “Wrestling is really fun; I look forward to getting stronger and having better technique. Other girls should consider wrestling because it’s a new sport. It’s fun to try something new, and they might end up actually liking it.”
Aja’nai Jumper, 10th grader, says, “I like wrestling because of the bond that me and my teammates have with each other and winning is a great bonus. My goal is to continue to grow in every aspect of the sport. I think other girls should wrestle because it’s a great sport that builds team camaraderie and builds confidence.”
Girls Deserve these Opportunities
We are passionate about providing girls with equitable opportunities and resources to participate in the great sport of wrestling. Wrestling is proven to increase confidence, work ethic, self-reliance, commitment, and resiliency. Girls deserve the opportunity to experience wrestling in the same ways boys do, and do so on equal ground- wrestling against girls.
Sanctioning wrestling in Pennsylvania would further grow participation numbers in PA – states that have added girls wrestling have seen incredible growth, sometimes as high as 400% in one year, just by providing an official opportunity for girls to participate in the sport and to wrestle and compete against other girls. Every sanctioned state has seen a marked increase in their female wrestling participation numbers. You can learn more at SanctionPa.com.
Adding girls wrestling teams at the high school level, and sanctioning the sport on the state level, can have enormous benefits for schools and athletes. First, adding girls wrestling increases the number of winter sport options for girls. By adding girls wrestling, schools can increase their winter sport offerings by 25%. Girls wrestling also helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion and provides more opportunities for girls of all backgrounds, sizes, and abilities to participate in a school program. Adding girls wrestling also increases post-secondary opportunities for girls. There are currently over 100 colleges that have women’s wrestling with six being in the state of Pennsylvania. Wrestling ranks 2nd among all sports for producing 1st generation college students. Looking at the number of girls coming up through the elementary and middle school system is another reason to support girls wrestling at the scholastic level – so that these girls will have teams to wrestle on and an official sport to be a part of.
Our Goal
Our goal and hope is that the Cumberland Valley School District will vote to recognize girls wrestling as an official school sanctioned sport for the 2022-23 season. This would further the opportunities and access to resources for our growing team. The girls are most looking forward to wearing the very first Cumberland Valley girls wrestling singlet as an approved program… hopefully next year!
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