By Bobby Narang
There’s been a shortage of good news on our community athletic front since the middle of March, but last week the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) quietly sneaked in some positive news.
The IHSA announced that girls wrestling state series will start in the 2021-2022 school year, to become the 26th state to sanction the sport.
In addition to Illinois, the other states to approve girls wrestling include Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Washington.
With the recent rise of girls competing on the high school level, the IHSA decided it was time to allow girls to compete in a State series. On the same day that the IHSA announced it would move the state boys basketball tournament from Peoria to Champaign, the female wrestlers throughout the State were jolted with the good news.
“I commend the Board on their vision to further the IHSA mission by continuing to seek out more participation opportunities for high school students in Illinois,” IHSA executive director Craig Anderson said in a statement. “Participation in high school girls wrestling has grown significantly over the past few years, and we expect this announcement will only help increase that momentum here in Illinois. Our staff will use the lead time in the 2020-2021 school year to best decide how the IHSA girls wrestling State series fits within the current wrestling State series structure, including the dates and locations of each level of the tournament.”
It was a big step for the State’s female wrestlers, coming over two years since the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and the Officials Association introduced its owns wrestling State tournament.
According to an IHSA meeting in March, there were 837 girls in the State that competed in wrestling during the 2019-2020 season, which nearly doubled the total of 424 girls from 2017.
Still, the location and timing of the State series is yet to be determined, though the early proposal is for the annual event to be held at the State Farm Center on the campus of the University of Illinois in February.
The IHSA announced that the Scholastic Bowl Tournament will move to Heartland Community College in Normal for at least three years, and the Peoria Civic Center will remain home of the IHSA chess State finals for the next three years.
Anderson said it’s all part of a plan to enhance the State tournament for all sports.
“We want the State final experience to feel like the Super Bowl of every IHSA sport and activity,” Anderson said. “We feel very, very lucky that these amazing communities are interested in supporting our high schools, while putting forth the time and resources necessary to make sure the students, coaches, fans, and officials enjoy a first-class experience. We are truly appreciative of everyone that submitted a bid to host and look forward to working with all of them moving forward.”