Girls wrestling becomes official PIAA sport after board votes for approval

It’s misleading to call girls wrestling Pennsylvania’s newest high school sport.

Females like Grove City graduate Erin Tomeo Vandiver faced District 10 boys in the late 1990s, and later competed for the Lock Haven University and the USA Wrestling women’s team.

Vandiver has coached Wyoming Seminary’s girls wrestling program for six years.

A female-only state wrestling tournament also began in 2020. Northwestern sophomore Sierra Chiesa became a two-time gold medalist during this year’s competition, which was held at Harrisburg’s Central Dauphin High School.

That meet occurred two days after Chiesa became the first female competitor in what had been an all-boys PIAA wrestling tournament since 1938.

One gold medal, one black eye: Sierra Chiesa's one-of-a-kind weekend of varsity wrestling

Now, thanks to Wednesday’s historic vote by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association's board of directors, Chiesa might be the only female to ever appear in that event.

The 35-person board unanimously voted to formally sanction girls wrestling, according to associate executive director Melissa Mertz. It occurred four years after executive director Robert Lombardi formally stated that if 100 state high schools formally agreed to sponsor a girls wrestling team, the PIAA would do the same.

Pennsylvania becomes the 38th state to sponsor girls wrestling. The 2023-24 season will be the first with full PIAA sponsorship and state championships scheduled to run the same weekend as the boys tournament at the Giant Center in Hershey.

SanctionPA is an online organization that took up Lombardi’s 100-school challenge. Their website posted the names of the schools that formally indicated they were willing to sponsor girls wrestling.

Seneca and General McLane from Erie County; Saegertown from Crawford County; and Mercer and Reynolds from Mercer County are five District 10 schools on SanctionPA's current list of 111.

There are 475 schools in the state that sponsor boys wrestling.

Brooke Zumas, SanctionPA's president, sent out a news release less than 30 minutes after the board's vote was confirmed.

"It is with great anticipation we look forward to celebrating the very first PIAA-sponsored girls wrestling tournament next year," she said. "In just three years, SanctionPA and the schools across the state were able to mobilize and showcase the support for this rapidly growing sport. We look forward to continuing to advocate and support the growth of the sport in the state."

More: Girls wrestling is a growing sport in Pennsylvania. Here are 5 things to know about it

What wrestling coaches are saying

Wednesday’s date will be long remembered in Pennsylvania’s wrestling history, according to Reynolds coach Casey Taylor.

“Girls wrestling has (existed) for close to 30 years,” he said. “This (vote) was an absolute necessity, given where we are in this day and age. I don’t want to say the girls have earned this, but they deserve to have the opportunity that boys do. This is going to be beneficial for both boys and girls.”

“To be the first PIAA (wrestling) champion as a girl would be an honor just as much as when someone does that the first time for their school.”

Wednesday’s vote was beyond overdue, according to McLane coach Ryan Cook.

“First of all, it’s about time,” he said. “But I am very proud of this because there was a goal and we got there. I’m very happy and honored our school was part of that first 100.”

It was Oct. 18, 2021, that Seneca signed SanctionPA's petition. The Bobcats were the 17th PIAA school that committed and the first from the state’s northwest corner.

“It’s very nice to be always known for that,” Seneca athletic director Steve Carter said. “But the bigger thing is, it was the right thing to do for the girls in our program. We weren’t trying to be the first. We just happened to be the first and other schools followed along.”

“I think it’s something most schools will end up doing.”

Saegertown (No. 54) signed the petition July 11, 2022. McLane (No. 56) followed on Aug. 17.

It was Jan. 25, 2022, when Saegertown hosted northwestern Pennsylvania’s the first all-girls wrestling dual.

The Crawford Wrestling Club, consisting mostly of female students from Crawford and Erie counties, defeated Canon-McMillan 48-27. The event drew more than 100 fans to the Panthers’ gymnasium, plus two local newspapers and radio and online broadcasts.

Jim Mulligan, who coaches Saegertown’s boys wrestling team, is glad such duals will be the norm going forward.

“It’s good they’ll have an opportunity to wrestle other girls so they don’t have to wrestle the guys,” he said.

Expect a second wave

The push for girls wrestling to come under the PIAA’s umbrella earnestly began this past Feb. 14. It was on that day Pennridge, located in Perkasie, Bucks County, became the 100th school that signaled its intention to field a girls wrestling team.

SanctionPA’s list grew to 111 on Tuesday when Central Bucks East, South and West each signed less than 24 hours before the vote.

Those rival District 1 schools won’t be the last either, according to Cook. He was confident the number of girls wrestling programs will reach 200 now that the PIAA has given the green light.

“I could name four or five schools off the top of my head that (will commit),” Cook said. “They didn’t want to jump out there based on school administrations and how they run their programs. I also expect to see multiple co-ops.”

It’s possible the district’s current boys wrestling coaches won’t be directly involved with their school’s girls programs.

Whether they are or not, Taylor is excited for what’s to come.

“This sport is going to explode in the future,” he said.

PIAA schools with girls wrestling programs

PIAA schools that have confirmed their intention to add a girls wrestling program. The PIAA board of directors, which voted to sanction the sport Wednesday, formally indicated it would do so if 100 of its schools did the same:

District 12: none

District 11: Easton; Executive Education Academy; Parkland; Palisades; Pine Grove; Bethlehem Catholic; Bethlehem Freedom; Bethlehem Liberty; Tamaqua; Lehighton; Pocono Mountain East; Pocono Mountain West

District 10: Seneca; Mercer; Saegertown; General McLane; Reynolds

District 9: Curwensville

District 8: none

District 7: North Allegheny; Canon-McMillan; Connellsville; Kiski Area; Southmoreland; Plum; Fort Cherry; Seneca Valley; Laurel; Mt. Lebanon; Moon; Burgettstown; Pine-Richland; Penn Hills; Trinity; Peters Township

District 6: Central Mountain; Bald Eagle Area; Bishop McCort; Central Cambria; United; Claysburg-Kimmel; Philipsburg-Osceola; State College

District 5: Chestnut Ridge; Northern Bedford; Bedford

District 4: Milton; Athens; Montgomery; Hughesville; Benton

District 3: J.P. McCaskey; Governor Mifflin; Annville-Cleona; Gettysburg; Brandywine Heights; Exeter; Newport; Penn Manor; Big Spring; Warwick; Manheim Township; Berks Catholic; Wyomissing; Lampeter-Strasburg; Pequea Valley; Cumberland Valley; Palmyra; Octorara; Reading; Spring Grove; South Western; Dallastown; Hamburg; Donegal; Lebanon; Schuylkill Valley; Elizabethtown; Wilson (West Lawn); Hempfield; Camp Hill; Boiling Springs; Lancaster Catholic; York Suburban; Kennard-Dale; Carlisle

District 2: Delaware Valley; Western Wayne; Hanover Area; Honesdale; Greater Nanticoke; Wallenpaupack; Montrose; Wilkes-Barre Area; Hazleton Area; Mid Valley

District 1: Souderton; Boyertown; Bensalem; Harry S. Truman; William Tennent; Quakertown; North Penn; Sun Valley; Upper Perkiomen; Perkiomen Valley; Pennridge; Coatesville; Pottstown; Central Bucks East; Central Bucks South; Central Bucks West

Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNcopper.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: PIAA votes to sanction girls wrestling with 111 sponsored teams