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WRESTLING

Wisconsin may add high school girls wrestling division soon

Tim Johnson
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
Former Stratford athlete Macey Kilty reached the Division 3 finals at 106 pounds during the WIAA state wrestling tournament in 2016. There is the feeling there could be a girls division in  Wisconsin in the near future.

MOSINEE - Kiana Pugh is one of the best girls wrestlers in Wisconsin. 

In 2017 alone, the Mosinee High School junior has won a Wisconsin Wrestling Federation girls freestyle title, was the girls champion at 152 pounds in the Cadet Folkstyle Nationals tournament and was fourth in the Junior Folkstyle National tournament. 

She has spent the past few winters as a member of the Mosinee boys wrestling team competing at 132 pounds. While she hasn't had the same level of success in the high school season against boys, it hasn't impacted her desire to compete in the sport. 

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"I just like the challenge," said Pugh, who started wrestling as a first-grader after watching her cousin wrestle. "And once I really started (youth wrestling), I don't think my mom would have let me quit even if I had ever wanted to."

The question is, how would Pugh and the dozens of other female high school wrestlers across the state fare if given the opportunity to break away from boys teams? The answer could come in the near future. 

Girls have had the opportunity to wrestle on boys teams for decades after the passage of Title IX in the 1970s. But 13 years after Tomahawk's Alyssa Lampe became the first girl to compete in the state wrestling tournament and less than two years after Stratford's Macey Kilty reached the Division 3 finals, there is a movement for the WIAA to add a girls-only division to the high school wrestling season.

It is something that could be a reality — one that some supporters believe should come as soon as next year, while others believe it might be closer to three seasons away. 

"It would mean a lot," Pugh said during a Mosinee team practice Friday. "This is something that (girls wrestlers) have been waiting for."

Kiana Pugh (blue sweatshirt) listens to Mosinee wrestling coach Steve Kmosena before a start of a team practice late last week.

Six states sanction already

The Wisconsin Wrestling Coaches Association and Wisconsin Wrestling Federation have led the charge. Given the increasing popularity of girls wrestling in the state, it seems Wisconsin could soon be the seventh state to have the sport sanctioned on its own by an interscholastic athletic association.

"I've known Kiana since she was this big," Mosinee coach Steve Kmosena said, holding his hand at about knee level. "I've always supported her and told her, 'Stay with it because things are going to start happening for you as a female in this sport.' We can't just leave that door shut anymore. Those girls have kicked the door down and are going to national-level events and some are competing outside of the country. 

"Kiana is at that level and I think her work ethic is second to none. I think she outworks a good amount of the boys in the sport. I think her commitment (to wrestling) deserves recognition on that mat in Madison. She deserves that spotlight and I think the girls in Wisconsin have earned it. I think the time is right."

Alaska, California, Hawaii, Tennessee, Texas and Washington have a girls-only division in their state tournaments, with Tennessee being the latest to make the move in 2015.

“It’s not a question of if, it’s when (for Wisconsin),” said Randy Ferrell, the West Allis Hale coach who also serves as president of the WWCA. “If it was up to me, I would have it for the girls for the (20)18-19 season, but we all know things take time.”

Alyssa Lampe answers questions from reporters alongside former Tomahawk coach Kurt Weyers in 2004 after Lampe became the first girl to compete in the WIAA state wrestling tournament.

How long it could take remains unclear. Next year might be too optimistic, but it could be a reality within three to five years.

There has been no formal pitch to the WIAA Board of Control. Members from the WWCA and WWF gathered in July 2016 to draft a proposal that was presented to the WIAA wrestling coaches advisory committee roughly a year ago.

“There is a proposal, but it is not something that can just be slammed through,” said Wade Labecki, deputy director of the WIAA. "We are going to take it through the process. You want to make sure the numbers are there to justify a complete separate division.”

Nearly 200 compete now

The number of female wrestlers in Wisconsin has been trending upward over the past few years. 

Through late November, there were 187 girls involved with a high school wrestling program. The numbers are gathered from the wrestlers who have gone through the hydration and skin-fold tests through the Wisconsin Weight Management plan, information that is entered into and managed in the state by trackwrestling.com. Ferrell said 102 schools across the state have at least one female wrestler and 20 have at least three.

Milwaukee Reagan has 10 female wrestlers with its wrestling program this winter. Kenosha Indian Trail and River Falls both have nine.

Ferrell said the overall numbers represent about a 50 percent growth over the past five seasons.

The trend isn't unique to Wisconsin as nearly 15,000 girls compete in high school wrestling across the country, according to the National Collegiate Wrestling Association. 

Lakeland University in Plymouth announced plans to add a women's wrestling team in fall 2018, becoming the first college in Wisconsin to offer the sport. Lakeland will become the 40th program of the Women's College Wrestling Association, a collection of NCAA Division II, Division III, NAIA and junior college programs. 

“We want to be one of the pioneers with this sport,” Lakeland coach Ben Chapman, who also heads the men's wrestling program, said in a news release announcing the move. “With more states offering wrestling at the high school level and the ranks of the WCWA growing, the trends are impressive and we’re excited to be the first school in Wisconsin to offer a college program."

The growth in female wrestling numbers comes at a time when high school wrestling participation has declined overall in Wisconsin. That trend has made it difficult for a number of boys programs to fill the 14 weight classes throughout the season.

The WIAA documented that 7,209 wrestlers started the season last year and 6,501 finished. That's about a 17 percent reduction over the past decade.

“There are girls showing interest in wrestling in Wisconsin and across the country,” said Kevin Black, the River Falls wrestling coach and women’s freestyle coach for the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation. “We already have a couple hundred girls who are involved with boys wrestling now, and I think we are already past the time when a girls-only wrestling opportunity should be available in the state. 

"There are people who think it is a three- to five-year plan where I personally am in thought of why keep waiting. I think we could add a mat at the (WIAA) state tournament this year (for girls). We aren't going to, but it is possible."

Youth trend up, too

Molly Engedal, a volunteer with the Wisconsin Wrestling Federation women's division, said youth girls numbers have been climbing over the decade. In 2009, there were five girls who wrestled in the WWF youth state folkstyle tournament, the last year it was a coed event. A separate girls division was added in 2010, and 123 girls participated. 

In 2017, there were 246 girls in second through eighth grade who competed in the event. 

"'We are seeing the numbers of (youth) girls getting involved in youth wrestling and then staying with (the sport) into high school," said Engedal, whose daughter, Sarah, is part of the Oshkosh West team. 

Four high school weekend tournaments in Wisconsin will offer a girls varsity division during the regular season this winter — the Marty Loy (in Fond du Lac), the Badger State Invitational (at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison), the Bauer Brawl (at West Allis Hale) and the Wisconsin Challenge Series (finals at Wausau West).

Girls will compete in 10 weight classes in each meet. A girls division was run during the challenge series last year but was on a junior varsity level.

"The WIAA wants to see how well-received and that the brackets are full," Ferrell said. "It is a factor moving forward."

It is another step toward the eventual goal of having the girls division as part of the WIAA state wrestling weekend in Madison. Ferrell said an extra mat or two at the Kohl Center to handle the additional athletes would not set back the schedule of the tournament. 

When girls wrestling is implemented, Ferrell said, it is likely there will be one division of competition for the state tournament. Each weight bracket would be made up of eight wrestlers. Ferrell envisioned that co-op teams would be formed at the start with dual-meet competition during the regular season.

"As numbers grow even further, schools could field programs and conferences could be formed," Ferrell said. "The main thing is giving (girls wrestlers) the opportunity."