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IHSAA approves Idaho girls state championships for 2021-22, making it the 29th state to add girls wrestling

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by Gary Abbott, USA Wrestling

Today, the Idaho High School Activities Association (IHSAA) approved a girls wrestling bracket at its state high school wrestling championships, beginning during the 2021-22 school year.


In the IHSAA Board of Directors meeting, held today at Madison High School in Rexburg, Idaho, the Board voted on the following action agenda-final reading:


1. Approve or deny approving a girl’s wrestling bracket for the 2021-2022 school year as a Final Reading.


According to wrestling leaders in Idaho, the IHSAA Board approved this by a unanimous 14-0 vote.


There has been successful unofficial Idaho Girls State Championships events held the last two years.


Idaho becomes the 29th state association to add an official girls championships. Girls wrestling is considered the fastest growing sport among girls on the high school level.


“This opens up the doors. We have had surging growth of girls wrestling on the youth and high school levels. This year, we had a number of girls who graduated and will wrestle in college. To offer this as an official championship, and to continue to expand that growth, more girls will benefit from the sport, and many others will be able to continue their education and careers in college,” said JB Plato, the girls wrestling director of the Eastern Idaho Wrestling Association, which is affiliated with USA Wrestling in the state. Plato has been a longtime supporter of girls wrestling in Idaho.


USA Wrestling’s efforts in creating official girls high school wrestling opportunities is led by its Girls High School Development Committee, co-chaired by Joan Fulp and Andrea Yamamoto. They work closely with other national organizations, including Wrestle Like A Girl and the NWCA, as well as a large group of state-level wrestling leaders to create expanded opportunities for high school girls to participate in wrestling.

State Associations with Girls Wrestling in alphabetical order (29)

Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin

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