(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first in a two-part series on girls wrestling. Today, the roots of the sport’s general rise in popularity. Tomorrow, a look at how that growth has impacted local programs.)

Nobody likes forfeits.

They’re now a standard part of dual meets, however, as high school wrestling teams struggle to fill their lineups.

Wrestling’s numbers problem is nothing new. Participation has decreased for decades.

At least that’s the case among the wrestlers you’re thinking of.

Girls’ wrestling, however, has done quite the opposite in recent years. It’s among the fastest growing high school sports in America, and as boys wrestling continues to struggle, girls wrestling has begun to thrive.

As the two sides continue on opposite trajectories, the question begs — could girls even save boys wrestling?

ONE-HUNDRED teams was the magic number in Pennsylvania.

That figure was required for the PIAA to consider full sponsorship of girls wrestling, including a state championship tournament.

Pennridge became the state’s 100th program Feb. 14 and, most recently, State College declared Friday as program No. 102. Despite the Keystone State’s inclination toward wrestling, however, its progress still trails many others, as 36 states already sanction a girls wrestling state championship.

New York is in a similar position.

The NYSPHSAA held its first-ever “Girls Wrestling Invitational” Jan. 27, which served as its state tournament. Similar events had been held prior, but with NYSPHSAA sponsorship, this was the closest New York has gotten to resembling its boys’ state tournament.

The hope is that similar events are on the way in PA.

Pennsylvania lawmakers gathered in Harrisburg Feb. 21 for a news conference celebrating the state reaching 100 programs. SanctionPA, a non-profit group, was credited with helping to grow girls wrestling in the Keystone State, and linked organizations exist in other states that are not yet sanctioned.

“We have momentum. We have energy. Let’s not stop at 100 programs,” PIAA Executive Director Robert A. Lombardi said at the news conference. “We need more female coaches, officials and administrators. We want this sport to continue to grow and stand the test of time.”

Fifty-eight teams were created in 2022 alone. So, if most boys’ wrestling teams can’t fill a lineup, what is causing the boom in participation among girls?

Why are NY and PA — two states with nationally renowned high school wrestling scenes — behind so many others in adopting girls wrestling? How will girls shape the future of high school, collegiate and Olympic wrestling?

It may simply be a matter of opportunity.

GIRLS COMPETING on boys wrestling teams is nothing new.

There has long been a faction of girls who don’t mind competing against the guys. For many, however, new opportunities — those that did not exist five or 10 years ago — have opened a pathway into wrestling.

“Once you open up the door for girls divisions, tournaments and teams, it absolutely causes the sport to explode,” said Derek Levendusky, director and staff writer at AllWomensWrestling.com. “A lot of girls would like to go out and legally fight another girl. If they had to wrestle the guys, it perpetually causes interest in wrestling to be small.”

Levendusky has committed much of his life to girls wrestling. Aside from years of coaching and covering the sport, he has three daughters who wrestle. Less than two years ago, the Levendusky family moved from Livingston County, New York to Clarksville, Tennessee in search of more opportunities.

Joye and Esther Levendusky wrestled scholastically at Avon High School, where both excelled on the boys team. As Esther neared the end of her high school career and Audrey Levendusky began hers, however, Derek and his wife, Heidi, wanted to give their daughters a new experience.

Tennessee fit Levendusky’s professional requirements as a Christian pastor, but one thing automatically placed it above New York — Tennessee sanctions girls wrestling. Unlike in Western New York — a wrestling hotbed — Audrey could now wrestle on a girls-only team.

“The girls provide an atmosphere that is much more fun and, a lot of times, you’ll see the girls be more committed per capita than the guys,” Levendusky said. “Now, you have a culture where girls are challenging the guys to get in the room and be diligent and disciplined. One program feeds the other. You’ll hear in a lot of states where they sanction girls wrestling — the guys need to thank the women for saving wrestling because it was a declining, withering sport.”

A common objection to expanding girls wrestling, Levendusky said, is referencing low interest. Not many girls come out for the team.

“The rebuttal is, most girls don’t want to wrestle dudes competitively,” he said. “Is that so hard to believe?”

The talent among girls in New York and Pennsylvania is obvious. Why, then, has sanctioning taken so long?

IT SOMETIMES TAKES a perfect storm for a state to sanction girls wrestling.

Advocacy from within state government is a factor, as is advocacy from outside groups like SanctionPA and “Wrestle Like a Girl.” Political undertones could also be a factor.

“In conservative states, I think there is more of an urgency and eagerness to separate the guys and girls from touching each other,” Levendusky said. “In a left-leaning state, I don’t think that urgency exists because there’s more of a unisex approach to everything … if it’s not for the reasons I laid out, it’s a head-scratcher.”

Thirty-six states currently sanction a girls wrestling championship. NY’s invitational made it the 37th state to host a recognized event, and an official NYSPHSAA girls wrestling tournament is likely not far away.

“You’re seeing the same last names of girls and guys in brackets because it’s now a family sport and not just a boys sport,” Levendusky said. “Now, you’ll have varsity programs with girls who aren’t just trying it as a freshman but have already wrestled a hundred matches. It’s all of that — opportunity, family support, youth wrestling, girls’ divisions, sanctioning girls wrestling in different states, and the growth of college and senior-level wrestling to provide heroes and role models.”

Collegiate women’s wrestling is changing rapidly, too. The NAIA and NCWWC — the latter of which is operated by the NCAA — are both sponsoring championships this year.

And, unlike the folkstyle format of men’s college wrestling, women’s collegiate competition is all freestyle.

Curwensville is the only school in District 9 that currently has a girls-only wrestling team. The only are three girls teams in New York’s Section 6 — Chautauqua Lake, Fredonia and Orchard Park — and three in Section 5 — Alexander, Canandaigua and Waterloo.

The sport’s current pipeline, though, has been constructed across the past three decades. Don’t be surprised as it continues to grow.

(Jeff Uveino, Bradford Publishing Company assistant group sports editor, can be reached at juveino@bradfordera.com)