On May 24, 2022, the Pennsylvania Girls HS State Champions were recognized at the State Capitol in Harrisburg, PA for their individual accolades during the 2022 post-season. The 13 HS state champions, as well as their coaches, families, and members of SanctionPA, were recognized during the Senate session. In Pennsylvania, the individual HS post-season is organized by PAUSAW and SanctionPA, with the hopes of the PIAA sanctioning the sport in the near future and providing a PIAA state championship for HS girls. Girls wrestling continues to gain momentum in terms of overall participants as well as the number of teams on the high school level in Pennsylvania. The PA legislature is one of the many groups that has taken notice. In addition to hosting the state champions on May 24, over 75 legislators recently signed and submitted a letter to the PIAA regarding the importance of sanctioning girls wrestling as a sport. The support from the Capitol has been strong and is another example of the incredible backing that girls wrestling has in the commonwealth.

Additional coverage of this historic event was provided by Dustin Hockensmith from PennLive. The article that appeared in PennLive on May 24, 2022 is reprinted below and can also be viewed at https://www.pennlive.com/highschoolsports/wrestling/2022/05/pennsylvania-girls-wrestling-state-champs-get-their-day-and-the-honor-they-deserve-at-the-capitol.html 

Pennsylvania girls wrestling state champs get their day and ‘the honor they deserve’ at the Capitol

HARRISBURG – Pennsylvania’s girls wrestling state champions were back together in Harrisburg on Tuesday to be celebrated for their achievements on the wrestling mat and recognized on the Senate floor. At the same time, the message was being shared with lawmakers for the second straight year about the plight of their sport and the push to earn sanctioned status from the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Pennsylvania’s brightest talent has also carried the burden of not just training and competing, but also leading that movement. Girls wrestling made tremendous strides over the 2021-’22 season, which includes earning emerging sport status from the PIAA and fielding the biggest, most challenging state tournament in the sport’s history, but the hard push to earn full sanctioning from the PIAA continues into another offseason.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to bring these young ladies up here and be able to give them the honor they deserve, which was the whole point of why we started this a year ago and also draw attention to how this sport is growing,” said Senator Scott Martin, a former state wrestling champ and vocal proponent of the Sanction PA girls wrestling movement.

“But there’s a flip side feeling to this as we watch so many other states – I think we’re up to 35, 36 now – that have sanctioned girls wrestling in their states. For me, Pennsylvania is the epicenter of wrestling at almost every single level and it’s so critically important that we lead and give these opportunities to girls and get this sanctioned as soon as possible. I really believe the moment that happens, the enrollment is going to explode.”

Explosive would be a good way to frame the direction girls wrestling has headed since last June, when state champs were recognized at the Capitol for the first time. Just 10 schools had approved girls wrestling as a sport at that time, and they have since been joined by 29 others as the push to 100 participating schools reached new heights. PIAA bylaws require 100 approved programs before it considers sanctioning a championship.

Sanction PA has been a driving force behind the growth of girls wrestling for the past three years with initiatives to educate school districts and guide them through the process of forming teams. That group is also working directly with the PIAA to get the sport approved and build toward a championship event right alongside the boys in Hershey.

The girls state championships were held at Central Dauphin High School in March and featured a jump to 115 schools and 288 competitors, up from around 130 wrestlers the year before. Proponents of girls wrestling point to that year-over-year growth and openly wonder how many girls would wrestle when it’s officially recognized as a sport.

“It shows that there’s true interest and passion behind the sport,” Sanction PA chair Brooke Zumas said. “Whether it’s sanctioned or not, there’s people out there that believe in it, that are buying in, that want to participate, that are participating. We’re making opportunities happen, even without having an official state championship.”

The rise in competition also made the girls state championship event the toughest on record, which the 10 state champs present survived to earn their recognition at the Capitol. As much as gathering in Harrisburg meant in the big picture of girls wrestling in Pennsylvania, those achievements were the focal point of the celebration.

Pennsylvania’s 13 state champions were:

Natalie Handy of South Western (100 pounds, Aubre Krazer of Easton (106 ), Sierra Chiesa of Northwestern (112), Savannah Witt of Palisades (118), Haylie Jaffe of Kennett (124), Jordyn Fouse of Northern Bedford (130), Marissa Rumsey of Williamsport (136), Grace Stem of Bald Eagle Area (142), Patron Plummer of Chestnut Ridge (148), Avry Ryhal of Mercer (155), Jael Miller of Punxsutawney Area (170), Trinity Monaghan of Souderton (190), and Xiyah Robinson of Pottstown (235).

“I saw the brackets,” Jaffe said. “They were like double, which was really exciting. I saw so many more girls that wanted to wrestle. That was really exciting, and it’s just going to keep growing every year. Hopefully we’ll be able to wrestle in Hershey and sanction PA soon.”

Jaffe, Plummer, Stem and Monaghan were all back at the Capitol for the second time as multi-time state champs, but Krazer was part of a group that was there for the first time.

The 106-pound champ said Tuesday was her first time at the Capitol and she got to have conversations with wrestlers, administrators and lawmakers who were all invested in the future of girls wrestling in Pennsylvania.

Krazer also described the team atmosphere at the state championships that is driving growth in the sport. A sixth-year wrestler, she said she’ll remember how she and her less experienced teammates threw their support behind one another.

“I had all my coaches there with me and my teammates cheering me on,” Krazer said. “It was just amazing. And to also watch my teammates wrestle because a lot of them are newer and this is their first year wrestling. Watching them go out and wrestle and them supporting me, it was just amazing to see.”

Stories like those keep the girls wrestling movement going in Pennsylvania, through red tape and the daunting task of reaching 100 schools. That effort has come in waves, Zumas said, which keeps the task fresh and momentum going in the right direction. The energy from that movement hasn’t waned, but the battle is a daily one with a huge looming end goal of getting sanctioned by the PIAA.

Still, those involved with girls wrestling have found energy in the many, many victories along the way, not the least of which was a group of state champions that earned their day at the Capitol.

“We have had a lot of little wins along the way,” Zumas said. “Seeing the numbers go up, getting emerging sport status, so it keeps us all going. Knowing that a difference is happening and we’re on our way, and when sanctioning happens, that will be the biggest win of all, but that doesn’t mean all these other things aren’t wins as well.”