PAC schools prepare for inaugural girls wrestling season
BOYERTOWN >> Janna Christine’s passion for the sport of wrestling is unsurpassed. She exhibits the drive to become a success on a daily basis.
The only thing missing in her journey was the opportunity.
“I know how badly I wanted to wrestle in high school,” said Christine. “Now I can give that opportunity to these girls.”
Christine is the head coach for girls wrestling this year at Boyertown High School, the first season of PIAA-sanctioned wrestling for girls. The Bears and four other PAC schools kicked off the inaugural season of the sport with a scrimmage meet at Boyertown’s Cub Gym last Thursday night.
Twenty-four matches pitted girls from Boyertown, Owen J. Roberts, Perkiomen Valley, Pottstown, and Upper Perkiomen against one another in pre-determined matchups.
At this time, Upper Perkiomen possesses the largest roster, but each school had at least one wrestler gain a victory over the balance of the event.
It might have been the first PIAA girls wrestling event in the area, but it’s anything but a new venture for Christine.
Wrestling’s been a part of her life back to childhood, as she served as the manager for the wrestling teams at Boyertown Junior High East and Boyertown High School before performing the same job at Penn State University. The Nittany Lions have won 10 of the past 12 national championships in Division 1 wrestling.
After graduation, Christine worked as the Director of Operations for David Taylor, a fellow Penn State graduate and a 2020 Olympic gold medalist at 86 kilograms.
There’s reason to believe Janna herself would’ve been a fine wrestler. Her brother, Jordan Wood, was a PIAA champion at Boyertown and an multi-time NCAA All-American at Lehigh University.
But there was no girls wrestling when she grew up, an unfortunate truth Janna aimed to change along with her husband Nik, a former head coach for boys’ wrestling at Boyertown.
“We’re both passionate about starting girls wrestling,” said Janna, “but back in 2019, the school wasn’t ready to get the program started.”
So the Christines established a K-12, open-mat time for girls only at a local facility. Turnout was strong from the beginning, with their best turnout coming one day in March with over 20 girls present.
The very next day was the start of COVID-related shutdowns.
“It wasn’t just Boyertown,” said Janna. “It was girls from as far as an hour away. Sammi Reitnour, who used to wrestle for the boys’ team at Boyertown, she was helping us coach.”
The next couple of years were a whirlwind, as Nik and Janna left the area to find work during the pandemic. Upon their return, the Boyertown Area School District expressed its desire to start a girls wrestling program.
“They sought me out as head coach for the 2022-2023 season,” said Janna. “It wasn’t PIAA-sanctioned last year, it was more of a club program. But we were able to get started.”
Wrestlers from Boyertown and Pottstown compete at a scrimmage between Pioneer Athletic Conference on Thursday, Dec. 1 at Boyertown. It served as a kickoff event for the first-year PIAA sport. (Courtesy Rick Martin)
A Pottstown wrestler celebrates after her win at a scrimmage between Pioneer Athletic Conference on Thursday, Dec. 1 at Boyertown. It served as a kickoff event for the first-year PIAA sport. (Courtesy Rick Martin)
Getting that PIAA approval wasn’t going to be a problem in terms of acquiring the necessary votes. Most coaches and officials felt they had the necessary support, they just needed to get to that magic number of 100 schools fielding a team required for PIAA sanctioning.
J.P. McCaskey High School in Lancaster was first, back in March of 2020. By the end of 2020, nine schools had established girls wrestling teams.
The number was up to 31 by the end of 2021, and 90 a year later. On Valentine’s Day 2023, Pennridge High School in Perkasie became the 100th Pennsylvania high school to start a girls wrestling team.
PIAA made it official three months later, making Pennsylvania the 38th state to approve girls wrestling. By then, there were 111 teams in the state.
“It’s become the fastest-growing sport in the nation,” said Mike Moyano, head coach of Perkiomen Valley’s girls wrestling team.
Moyano hails from the Bay Area in California, where the sport is structured to include both girls and boys within a singular wrestling team. From his perspective, it’s taken time to get adjusted to seeing the girls program separate from the boys.
“There are so many opportunities within this sport,” said Moyano, who coached the boys team at Pope John Paul II before heading the girls program at PV.
“It’s catching on at different colleges – Iowa, which is one of the Division 1 wrestling powerhouses, has a women’s team now.”
To that end, Nik and Janna Christine knew they enjoyed the support of PIAA to approve girls wrestling. They just needed the 100 schools to make it official. So the moment of triumph came when Pennridge approved its program in February.
But the reality of preparing for that first season quickly superseded any celebration. The five schools that currently offer girls wrestling in the PAC are accompanied by numerous others throughout District 1 and the rest of the state.
It’s not to say that girls wrestling didn’t exist before this season. The MyHouse Pa. Girls State Championships were held in recent years the Sunday after the end of the PIAA boys wrestling championships in mid-March with qualifying tournaments held in the weeks prior to gain entry.
The state-sanctioned status will give organizational weight to the fledgling programs.
The 2023-2024 season features more scheduled tournaments than dual meets due to the inconsistency of numbers from school to school, a factor Janna Christine thinks will even out over time.
“As this season moves on, girls will see their classmates and neighbors wrestling and it will normalize it,” she said. “In the meantime, we have a lot of bystanders waiting to see how this plays out.”
For an observer at Thursday night’s event, there was undeniable novelty to teams of girls taking to the mat for the first time. But it only lasted as long as the first well-executed takedown, reversal, or pin for spectators to settle in as they would at any competition.
By the second or third match, several hundred attendees shouted encouragement, cheered for scoring maneuvers by their school, and even questioned officials’ decisions. Just as Janna Christine predicted, the novelty had worn off and everyone was in their comfort zone.
“We’ve got a ton of youth girls now in Boyertown,” she said. “At the high school level, just about everyone is brand new to the sport. But they’re picking it up quickly – they’re detail oriented, they ask the right questions, and you don’t waste a lot of time practicing skills incorrectly.
“Once you watch the girls at an open gym, you’ll feel more at ease. I’ve talked to parents who’ve admitted they were hesitant, but now they realize it’s not any different than basketball or any other sport. I’ve told the girls that if anyone says anything to you, just show them it’s no different.”
And in a few years, it won’t be any different. Girls starting out with wrestling in kindergarten or first grade will know wrestling only as a favorite activity of their childhood – and perhaps beyond – just like any soccer, lacrosse, or softball player does now.
Opportunities abound for young girls to see their older peers in action. Locally, Moyano and the Perkiomen Valley program host the 1st Lady Vikings Invitational on February 3. This coming Saturday, Boyertown, Perkiomen Valley, and other local programs will compete in North Penn’s tournament.
Wrestlers from Pottstown and Upper Perkiomen compete at a scrimmage between Pioneer Athletic Conference on Thursday, Dec. 1 at Boyertown. It served as a kickoff event for the first-year PIAA sport. (Courtesy Rick Martin)
“Wrestling’s a very unique sport,” said Janna Christine. “If you’re someone who ever feels like you don’t belong somewhere, chances are you belong on a wrestling mat.
“It’s an individual sport and a team sport. When you’re out there on the mat, you can’t blame anyone else. Ultimately, it’s your decision, your actions and reactions – and after you compete, it’s on you to get better. At the time, you’re part of a team so those actions and reactions do affect others, even though you’re completely responsible for them. In those six minutes, you will push yourself harder than you have before.”
