Girls’ wrestling sanctioned

School board sports decisions next week

Posted 5/3/22

History was made last week after the Wyoming High School Activities Association (WHSAA) unanimously approved the sanctioning of girls’ wrestling as a sport.

Powell has had girls competing on …

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Girls’ wrestling sanctioned

School board sports decisions next week

Posted

History was made last week after the Wyoming High School Activities Association (WHSAA) unanimously approved the sanctioning of girls’ wrestling as a sport.

Powell has had girls competing on the team since 2018 –  including 2021 graduate Emma Karhu and current team member junior Yessenia Teague.

Before girls’ wrestling can be offered as a sport, the Powell School Board must approve the program.

During a workshop meeting last week, the board was initially discussing adding sixth grade wrestling — which led to further discussion about adopting high school girls’ wrestling due to the anticipated approval by the WHSAA.

Powell High School (PHS) Athletic Director Scott McKenzie said he believed there will be enough demand within the district to create a girls’ team without adding significant cost for either team.

One potential issue that may arise was brought up by PHS Coach Nick Fulton, who said that if venues are split between girls and boys, he would seek additional staffing to help deal with the teams.

Powell Middle School Athletic Director Chanler Buck said the middle school also would consider wrestling if offered.

The popularity of girls’ wrestling has grown in recent years as every state surrounding Wyoming offers the sport, with Montana being the last to add it in 2020-21.

Superintendent Jay Curtis is hoping that more girls will be encouraged to wrestle knowing they are going to be wrestling against other girls more often.

Other discussions during the workshop included the addition of an indoor track team this upcoming year.

This discussion came after students sent Curtis a letter regarding the addition of a Powell team.

The Panther and Lovell indoor track teams currently travel and compete together and currently the Panthers have more athletes enrolled than Lovell.

With divisions being split into 3A and 4A in the future, McKenzie said the creation of an indoor track team is something that should be considered. 

There would be additional costs associated with a new team, such as expenses for indoor-specific equipment and to hire coaches and pay for travel.

The creation of new sports and the resulting hiring of new coaches may also create tension on the part of coaches who have had their requests for additional staff denied.

Another consideration is the pending addition of sixth graders to specific sports, and official recognition of the middle school’s Cub club soccer team as an official team starting next year.

Powell is currently the only 3A team in the state that does not offer sixth grade sports in the middle school.

The board requested additional information regarding statistics from districts that offer sixth grade sports. 

The board also wants to identify different barriers that would hinder all sports being added for sixth graders, such as insufficient lanes at the pool for swimming, a lack of competing teams available for volleyball or safety issues in sports such as football.

Decisions were not made at the workshop and were simply discussed.

Any decisions expected to be made will be on Tuesday, May 10, at the school board meeting that starts at 6 p.m.

Powell High School, Panther Wrestling

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