IGHSAU expands Iowa high school girls wrestling to two classes for upcoming season
The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union will expand girls wrestling to two classes for the upcoming season.
The largest 64 wrestling schools will move into what will be known as Class 2A, while the remainder of the programs will be in Class 1A.
In 2024, there were 204 schools that sponsored a girls wrestling program, while 61 other schools were listed in a cooperative sharing agreement with other schools.
In its two seasons as a sanctioned sport, the girls state wrestling tournament was a one-class event across two days. The tournament, which will be held at Coralville’s Xtream Arena on Feb. 6-7, 2025, next season, will remain a two-day event. Day one will include two sessions, one for each class. Championship matches will be held on the final day for both classes.
State-qualifying regionals will expand from eight tournaments to 16 next season, but there will still just be eight sites per class. The top 16 in each class will qualify for the state championships, meaning a top-two finish is required at a regional to qualify for state. Previously at regionals, a top-four finish qualified wrestlers for state.
“The rapid rise of participants in girls wrestling has exceeded even our expectations,” said IGHSAU executive director Erin Gerlich. “Adding a second class is the next building block in our efforts to continue to help the sport grow. The hope is that the addition of a second class will encourage more schools to add girls’ wrestling programs.”
As a result, there will now be 28 state champions crowned in Xtream Arena in 2025 instead of 14 in past years. This move puts the IGHSAU closer to Iowa high school boys wrestling, which competes in three different classes.
Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: IGHSAU expands girls wrestling to two classes for upcoming season
