Wrestling has been a sport offered at schools for many years, with only boys primarily competing. With a recent KSHAA vote passing through, girls wrestling will now have its own state competition apart from the boys.

“The girls team would still practice with the guys,” wrestling coach Mike Schauer said. “They would still continue to wrestle with boys in competition, but for the first time girls will only wrestle girls at state.”

Girls wrestling being recognized in this way can give girls a greater opportunity to compete in wrestling and make an impact on the sport.

Many girls have done wrestling but have quit for many different reasons. Freshman Jamie Claeys wrestled in eighth grade but has not done it in high school. Her mom would not let her because there was no girls team, and she was discouraged when boys would make negative comments about her wrestling.

“I like the sport because you don’t need a ball and it’s not a game, you just use your own strength,” Claeys said. “My mom wouldn’t let me wrestle because there was no girls wrestling team. She said if there was a girls team that I could wrestle again.”