IHSAA Sanctions Girls Wrestling

On Monday, the IHSAA Board of Directors approved full recognition of girls wrestling beginning with the upcoming 2024-25 school year, along with boys volleyball.

In explaining Monday’s decision, the IHSAA said girls wrestling, as well as boys volleyball, “have seen significant growth over the last 24 months.” Indeed, more than 1,400 girls at 177 different Hoosier high schools competed in wrestling in the 2023-24 school year, according to IHSAA figures.

Girls wrestling advanced quicker elsewhere in the nation. Indiana was one of only five states that had not yet sanctioned girls wrestling championships, according to National Federation of State High School Associations statistics cited in a USA Today report.

Nationwide, the number of high school girls wrestling teams quadrupled through the past decade, and the number of individual female wrestlers has quintupled to more than 50,000, the Associated Press reported. That marks a phenomenal increase. In 1990, barely 100 girls wrestled for high school teams throughout the entire U.S.