It makes perfect sense that in one of the states where wrestling is biggest would be one of the earlier ones to expand the sport for girls. So the recent news that the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) is now sanctioning girls’ wrestling as the organization’s 11th sport is no surprise.

The vote was made at the IGHSAU’s January 12 board of directors meeting and was announced prior to the start of the championship round of the IWCOA Girls State Wrestling Tournament in Coralville. The first IGHSAU-sanctioned season will take place during the 2022-23 school year.

“We think there’s a great foundation in place for the success of this sport and we intend to fully support these Iowa Girls as they continue their pursuit of championships,” says IGHSAU executive director Jean Berger. “As the sanctioning process unfolded, the Board was able to quickly approve this new opportunity for our girls and schools across the state. The increase in participation, the growth in youth wrestling and the willingness of our schools to commit to the sport all factored into this decision.”

The IGHSAU intends to follow the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) wrestling rules and guidelines. The next steps in this process include meeting with an appointed IGHSAU wrestling advisory committee this winter to finalize details for this roll-out year that include format for the season, classification system, weight classes, and postseason/tournament details.

To date, 58 schools have committed to sponsoring girls wrestling programs in Iowa. The latest data from Trackwrestling.com shows 1018 girls participating in high school wrestling, represented by over 185 Iowa schools. Wrestling becomes the 11th sport to be sanctioned by the IGHSAU and the first since bowling was added in 2007. Iowa becomes the 34th state association to sanction girls’ wrestling.