Pennridge School District became the 100th school to officially approve a girls wrestling team on Tuesday, fulfilling the standard set forth by the state’s high school athletics governing body to qualify the sport of girls wrestling for consideration for full sponsorship.

The momentum of girls wrestling in the state hit its stride at the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, with 46 schools approving official programs since September 2022.

SanctionPA, the concerted initiative to pave a pathway for Pennsylvania high school girls wrestling was launched in March 2020. The initiative introduced grassroots efforts to meet the goal of 100 schools, which includes general advocacy, education, resources, promotional material and collaboration with schools to work towards getting high school girls wrestling programs approved. In less than three years, which included the Covid-19 pandemic, the group was able to successfully mobilize schools across the state to organize and create official girls programs.

High school girls wrestling participation in Pennsylvania grew by over 80% during the 2022-23 season and has experienced over a 400% growth in the past five years. All 12 PIAA district areas have girls wrestling within their area schools. Nationally, there are now 38 state high school associations sanctioning a girls wrestling state championship.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) current rules require a minimum of 100 schools to form official girls wrestling programs before fully sanctioning a sport.

Last year the organization unanimously voted to approve girls wrestling as a PIAA Emerging Sport under their new emerging sport process. This designation indicates that girls wrestling is a sport that the PIAA is tracking for potential full sponsorship and demonstrates that girls wrestling has a clear plan and path to sanctioning in the PIAA’s eyes.

In November, Tamaqua approved a girls wrestling team, and in December, Lehighton did so as well.