PIAA sanctions girls wrestling, Pennsylvania becomes 38th state to sponsor

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association voted unanimously on Wednesday to sanction girls wrestling as an official scholastic sport governed by the organization, making Pennsylvania the 38th state in the country to sanction girls wrestling.

The vote comes after Pennridge of Bucks County surpassed the 100-school threshold required by rule on Feb. 14. There are currently 111 schools in Pennsylvania that offer girls wrestling as a sport compared to the 475 that offer boys wrestling, and all 12 districts in PIAA jurisdiction offer the sport as well.

This means the 2023-24 school year will be the first in Pennsylvania to run the sport with full sponsorship, as well as state championships slated to run the same weekend as the boys tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey.

According to the PIAA, girls wrestling participation in Pennsylvania grew by over 80 percent in the last year, and over 400 percent in the past five years.

The vote on Wednesday came during the third and final reading after the initial unanimous vote to approve girls wrestling as a PIAA emerging sport status last year. Wednesday’s vote also marks the first time the PIAA has sanctioned a new sport since competetive cheer in 2012