The Big College Boom

by guest writer Shannyn Gillespie
IG: @coachshannyntalks
Twitter: @coachshannyn

Data: Boys high school wrestling participation numbers have declined from 272,890 to 247,441 since 2010 while girls wrestling participation numbers have increased from 6,134 to 21,124 participants during the same time period.

Fact: Wrestling was voted to be removed from the Olympics in 2013 and was reinstated after an International Olympic Committee vote to be kept until yet another vote in 2024.

Question: How can we save wrestling from declining into the abyss?
Answer: Add female wrestling programs in high school and in big colleges.

Is it really that easy?

Short History
Before we look at how we can save wrestling from extinction, let's take a look at female wrestling as it has evolved over the last 30 years or so...  In 1998, Hawaii was the first state to sanction high school girls wrestling, and since that time, 19 other states have followed suit.  Amazingly, 5 years earlier (1993), Minnesotta-Morris was the first college to sanction a varsity women’s wrestling program and now over 70 colleges or universities have women's collegiate wrestling.  

Incredibly, and maybe more significantly, the world recognized women's wrestling by adding a world championships for females in 1987 (about a decade after Title IX) and then about 20 years later added women's wrestling to the Olympics in 2004.  If some states, colleges, & the world added female wrestling programs over 3 decades ago, what appears to be the female wrestling growth challenge for the entirety of the US?

That is the million dollar question and here are some likely answers...

High Schools
Some state athletics organizations, like the Illinois High School Association, have strict rules for adding (sanctioning state championships) athletic & sport teams to the sanctioned group.  As an example in Illinois, there are about 800 member schools in the IHSA and 10% of the schools must have participating athletes per sport to have that sport sanctioned. So in the case of Illinois, 80 high schools must have competing high school girl wrestlers (and the sport) registered as an emerging sport by their high schools Athletics Director.  (Now, 53 IL high schools are recognized as emerging sports for girls wrestling).

It really is as simple as ADs in Illinois registering girls wrestling at their high school to the IHSA as an emerging sport.  In addition to that emerging sport status by the ADs, the high school varsity coaches in Illinois must also register all his or her high school girl wrestlers via the weight class certification process again via the IHSA.  These processes (hurdles) seem easy but may be the reason girls wrestling is not sanctioned yet in Illinois...

Many states have similar rules (obstacles) regarding sanctioning new female athletic teams or sports and some states have simply changed their rules to give more high school girls the opportunity to wrestle in high school at a sanctioned state tournament.  In the last 18 months, about 15 states have added girls wrestling as a sanctioned high school sport.  As of this writing, here is the list of the 20 states that have sanctioned high school girls wrestling state tournaments: Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Utah.

Small Colleges & Universities
Many large colleges & universities do not have women's collegiate programs because there is no need — or not enough need (so they say).  Is this really true? Doubtful at best. However, all of the colleges & universities that offer women's collegiate wrestling teams tend to be smaller schools and or private schools.  This is likely the case because smaller schools are usually enrollment driven which is a nice way of saying these schools bottom lines are the reason they offer women's wrestling. Or, smaller schools rely more heavily on tuition from students than larger schools do.

There are about 76 small colleges & universities that offer women's wrestling and that list seems to grow monthly plus is updated just as quickly... 

Big Colleges & Universities
The large schools that do not have women's collegiate wrestling tend to be in conferences like the Big 10, ACC, MAC, Big 12, PAC 12, SEC,  WAC, Ivy League, & EIWA. These types of schools are game changers for these reasons...  

All of these schools get much more recognition due to their history of providing excellent education via academics & athletics (not to mention their alumni base & endowments).  Many of these larger schools get a lot of TV coverage (exposure due to popularity) on networks like ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC, ABC, CBS plus other pay per view channels like the Big 10 Network, ACC Network, SEC Network, etc.
This exposure alone lets the world see those big colleges & universities literally (think recruiting female wrestlers worldwide).

Finally, big colleges & universities will help legitimize women’s wrestling as a collegiate sport via NCAA Division I-III National Championships (similar to Olympic Games & sanctioned state championships for high school sports like swimming, track & field).  For those reasons above, adding women's collegiate wrestling at any of these big schools will make wrestling grow by leaps & bounds plus give female wrestlers much more opportunity.  

Adding women's wrestling at big colleges will grow and save the sport of wrestling!  

The sport could literally double participation numbers in high school & college if big colleges offer women's wrestling teams.  The trickle down effect would real because now, high school ADs & state athletics organizations would see the opportunities for their students as tangible.  Because of this large growth, the world likely would follow the lead set by American big colleges and perhaps give more opportunities to their female aspiring wrestlers.

Wrestling growth in the US big colleges would positively impact world wrestling participation numbers!

What's in it for them?
Certainly, the altruistic approach to the education of collegiate females on all fronts could be a reason to add women’s collegiate wrestling at big colleges & universities…  Also, Title IX should assist many administrators to do the right thing for female collegiate wrestlers. Or, simply giving more underserved populations (some say minorities) an opportunity to achieve in collegiate athletics could be a reason big college presidents & athletic directors would add women’s wrestling.

Now think about this…

What if the high school boys wrestling participation numbers continue to decline like they have for the past decade? Will this negatively impact big college & university men’s wrestling teams?

Men’s wrestling big college & university coaches jobs will be affected by a continuous decline in high school boys wrestling participation numbers (scholarships for those programs will be impacted too).  Men’s college wrestling coaches could help save the sport from collegiate extinction by convincing their Athletic Directors & Presidents (bosses) based on the trends outlined here & below...

Those reasons are all valid justifications for why big colleges should add a women’s wrestling team and as alluded to earlier — big colleges adding women’s wrestling will be a game changer for the entire world!

For more female wrestling growth articles, please view: Open Letter to College Presidents & ADs: Women’s Wrestling, NCAA DI Coaches for Women’s Wrestling: Growth, Where it All Begins for Many Females: High School Wrestling Coaches, Another Paradigm, The USOEC Women’s Wrestling Program, & Jenna & Erin Wrestle.