Powered by girls’ wrestling ranking as the fastest-growing high school sport in participation in the U.S. – but also by more boys taking to the mat – the wrestling business for team dealers is on the upswing. For dealers, the major growth opportunity is serving the new and expanding girls’ wrestling programs, including supporting demand for female-specific gear and tastes. However, the growth in girls’ wrestling is also believed to be fueling an uptick in participation in boys’ wrestling.

According to NFHS, boys’ participants reached 291,874 for the 2023-24 school year, climbing 17.9 percent since in 2018-19, the last school year prior to the pandemic, and reaching levels not seen since the eighties.

Participation on the boy’s side at high schools peaked at around 350,000 in the mid-seventies before the cancellation of some wrestling programs at the college level, blamed on the enactment of Title IX, trickled down to impact participation at high schools. The National Wrestling Coaches Association has claimed 171 collegiate programs were eliminated due to the effects of Title IX. 

Other factors seen supporting wrestling overall include the expansion of youth wrestling tournaments and that wrestling tends to more affordable than several other team sports with reasonable registration fees and no need for expensive equipment.

Chad Clark, SVP at Cliff Keen Athletic, believes girls are looking for “real opportunity to compete” and on the boys’ side, Clark believes the recent uptick may be tied to many high school football coaches realizing that wrestling is beneficial for players, particularly for lineman. The popularity of UFC he sees also helping recruit boys to the sport with the top MMA fighters typically coming from a wrestling background. However, Clark believes boys are attracted to the sport for similar reasons as girls, including the lessons wrestling teaches around discipline and goal setting that are being more valued by parents as well.

“The virtues of wrestling are second to none,” he explains. “You will not find another sport in this on this planet, in my opinion, that really teaches you life’s virtues better than the sport of wrestling. Discipline, accountability, stick-to-itiveness — just that drive. These are virtues that will carry you through life.”

Dealers Go To The Mat

Despite heightened competition against online sellers and other challenges, team dealers are positioning themselves to benefit from the explosive growth in girls’ wrestling as well as the more recent uptick on the boy’s side.

The Locker Room in Omaha, NE, is among the dealers finding a bigger growth opportunity in wrestling overall after girls wrestling was sanctioned as a sport by the state of Nevada in 2021. The sport was already popular with boys in the region.

“Wrestling is big in our state,” says Mitch McCann, VP–sales and store manager. “Our state tournament has some of the best attendance numbers in the country. Our boys’ numbers have been consistent and the girls continue to grow. Since they have been sanctioned as their own sport, we have seen more and more girls come out.”

One challenge, he points out, is limited vendor options to handle rush situations. “We really have a few different options for our customers and sometimes, during peak times of year, their lead times do not work with our needs, but we cannot supply other options to our customers,” he says. “The way to combat is to make sure your customers know ordering deadlines. We send them a chart of when they need to make sure everything is ordered by to ensure their in-hands date is met. So, an ‘order by’ date for singlets, screenprint/embroidered stock items and blank stock/hardgoods. This seems to help a lot and at least helps keep the blame from coming back to you if deadlines aren’t hit.”  

Wrestling is a key category for 2 the Tee Outfitters in York, PA, with Pennsylvania consistently ranking as the top state producing the most college wrestlers.

Owner Chris Markey notes that wrestling recovered a tad slower from the pandemic than many the other major team sports, but is now seeing healthy sales growth largely thanks to increased girls’ participation. “Every high school team pretty much has a girls’ team,” he says.

One challenge with wrestling, according to Markey, is competing with many wrestling brands going direct online. Several brands, such as Rudis and Myhouse, have become major sponsors of star athletes and tournaments to help establish followings with wrestlers.

2 the Tee Outfitters is still often able to secure sales in singlets and fight shorts because his team is able to supply more embellishment needs, including screenprinting, heat press and heat transfer vinyl, than online sellers. Relationships also still count and some programs trust their local dealer to service their needs. “If they have to call over a problem, at least they can get someone and know somebody’s working on it,” Markey points out.

Markey further notes that beyond the comparatively short wrestling high school season that runs from mid-November through February or March, wrestling offers a year-long opportunity with many clubs available as many wrestlers solely commit to the sport. “There are people that do two sports, but when you’re a wrestler, it’s a different world. When you’re a wrestler, you’re a wrestler.”

At Misko Sports, based in Kearney, NB, the addition of girls’ wrestling at the high school level has trickled down to create opportunities at the middle school and club level for girls while also feeding an increase in boys’ wrestling as well.

“The strongest area of growth in wrestling is women’s wrestling; the numbers don’t lie,” says owner Russ Staton. “Our state just this year adopted a second class of girls’ wrestling. We now have four classes of boys and two classes of girls. With that we have seen an uptick of purchases, especially on the women’s side as schools continue to add it at the high school level which then in turn adds it at the middle school level. I would say 80 percent of our sales are school driven when it comes to wrestling.”

Colin Pfeiffer, who heads up team sales for Misko Sports, says that customized gear continues to be popular sellers for kids and coaches, across singlets, gear bags or screenprinted apparel. Footwear continues to be a challenge due to pricing.

Pfeiffer adds that one of the biggest challenges is online sellers touting less-expensive options. “Trying to get the customer to understand that with price comes quality is always a challenge,” he explains. “Usually, a coach will go to one of those companies and buy a product and come back to us very quickly after a year or two. Some customers we lose entirely because price is always a driving factor.”

Meanwhile, Medallion Sports, in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, sells headgear and some singlets largely to high schools, but the major wrestling opportunity in selling trophies around tournaments. Similar to other dealers, the growth is being driven by increased participation in women’s wrestling.

“There’s heated interest in girls wrestling,” points out manager Kevin Licata. “The recent turnout for tryouts at a couple of the local high schools around here was enormous. I just took an awards order the other day for a girls’ wrestling tournament and now I’m doing more awards for the girls than I am for the boys.”

Benny Oliver, a sales rep for MRG Hauff based in Omaha, NE, says his wrestling business has picked up with the addition of girls’ wrestling that also seems to be providing a boost to boys’ participation. “I know it doesn’t really directly correlate, but I definitely think the addition of women’s wrestling is helping growth in general,” he says.

Oliver likewise cites online sellers among his challenges in selling the wrestling category, pointing out that many of them are spending “massive, massive amounts on marketing” and it’s critical for reps to develop relationships.

“It’s boots on the ground, visiting and meeting coaches,” says Oliver. “Most people still like the personal connection.”

Oliver further agrees that while turnaround times with sublimated products can cause delays, a local dealer is often better positioned to service accounts when problem arise. “With an online seller, you often have to wait on hold until you get to get a real person. It’s just a phone call to us,” he points out. “As the rep, I then have to go to my vendors, so sometimes it’s not beautiful. But at least my customer feels like I’m getting a problem solved as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Andy Nickerson, owner of Wight’s Sporting Goods in Hampden, ME, sees a smaller opportunity in wrestling as many schools in Maine still don’t have a program. “Some communities are very vibrant with wrestling, but others don’t have much of a program,” he points out. “It’s hit or miss within different communities. We sell it and we enjoy selling it, but it’s not a large category for us just due to the nature of participation in our state.”