Girls wrestling is sweeping the state with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association expected to officially sanction it as a sport later this month.

Whether it comes to Palmerton Area High School for the 2023-24 athletic season remains up in the air two weeks out from a board of directors vote.

Justin Petersen, Palmerton’s varsity wrestling coach, made his pitch to the board during a workshop Tuesday night, saying a survey of current 6-11 grade females showed 21 of them would highly consider coming out for an all-girls team.

“We have one girl wrestling now at the high school level and I think those numbers would just skyrocket if they knew they didn’t have to compete with boys,” Petersen said. “It’s really important to give our girls the opportunity to compete on a level playing field. This is something I’m really passionate about and I hope that Palmerton can be progressive and at the forefront of this initiative with girls wrestling likely soon to be sanctioned at the state level.”

Should the program get off the ground, Peterson said, a head coach and one full-time assistant would be the optimal staffing situation.

Currently, Petersen takes Gretchen Schaible, Palmerton’s only female wrestler on the roster this year, to individual tournaments where she can compete against other girls.

“I want her and any other girls who come out to get the attention they deserve and it’s just not feasible right now to be there 100% for the boys and 100% for the girls at the same time,” he said.

In addition to Schaible, Palmerton has one current female wrestler at the junior high level and three or four in the elementary program.

Director Sherry Haas said while she backs the idea of a girls wrestling team, “now is not the right time.”

“I hate to say it,” Haas said. “We approved moving forward with renovations at the wrestling room to add showers to accommodate a future girls wrestling team. I’d like to see that done first. I think it’s being rushed through.”

The wrestling/weight room renovation, which is adding separate boys and girls locker room facilities and showers, isn’t scheduled to be completed until February. Petersen said the boys wrestling team, and a girls team if approved, would use two separate shower facilities in the football field house for the 2023-24 season.

“I don’t think that should stop us from approving this program,” director Stacey Connell said. “The survey speaks for itself. There is a want and a need for this. To have 20 girls show interest in wrestling is huge.”

While a girls wrestling team has the backing of Connell and possibly several other board members, High School Principal Paula Husar was skeptical of how well the team would take off next year.

“In my meeting with her, she said now wasn’t the right time,” Petersen said. “She felt it wouldn’t be something we’d have a lot of interest in.”

In a possible preview of his vote in two weeks, board member Earl Paules said he would put heavy value on Husar’s feelings.

“If that’s how she feels, I’m going to respect that,” Paules said.

Schaible, who was participating in a track meet while the workshop was going on, wrote a letter to the board, asking them to approve the girls wrestling team.

“Being part of the wrestling team these last few years has taught me to be strong-willed, more confident and prepared for the life ahead of me,” she said. “I can see that through my determination, achieving the difficult goals I set for myself is indeed possible. I want other girls to have the same opportunities wrestling gave me.”

In Pennsylvania, 108 schools have approved a girl wrestling team including 12 in District XI. Those schools include Easton, Executive Education Academy, Parkland, Palisades, Pine Grove, Bethlehem Catholic, Bethlehem Freedom, Bethlehem Liberty, Tamaqua, Lehighton, Pocono Mountain East and Pocono Mountain West.

Petersen said he envisions 5-8 tournament competitions for Palmerton’s girls should the program be approved with the opportunity to compete in dual meets against other schools with a girls team.

“I can tell you the opportunities this can open are going to continue to increase,” he said. “It is the fastest growing sport in college as well. Gretchen is dead set on going in the Air Force, but she has had interest from Alvernia for wrestling. There are options there now she would not have had before.”

Palmerton meets on May 17 at 6:30 p.m. when the girls wrestling program will be up for vote.

“I can see the amount of time and effort put into this presentation,” Board President Tammy Recker told Petersen on Tuesday. “You are passionate and motivated for the all right reasons. I don’t want you to lose sight of that.”