Century High School's Girls Wrestling Team
Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports at the scholastic and collegiate level; it was even established as an Olympic event in 2004 and will be present in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Women’s wrestling participation numbers have grown higher than National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) sponsored events such as crew, fencing, skiing, and rifle, as well as emerging sports such as rugby, sand volleyball, and equestrian.
Organizations such as the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA), the Women’s College Wrestling Association (WCWA), and the United States Girls Wrestling Association (USGWA) continue to help spread women’s wrestling.
Currently, the NWCA is in the process of pursuing an emerging sports status for women’s wrestling in the NCAA. Success is highly probable. The NWCA is responsible for getting women’s wrestling into high schools- including Century and other high schools throughout Oregon.
Coach Rocky Hernandez first conveyed his idea to create an all girls wrestling team over Twitter last year. He was messaged by various girls, including Century High School senior Erica Spriggs, who is now Captain of the emerging team.
“I had always wanted to wrestle but I had other activities that I was involved in so I couldn’t pursue [it]. But I also wanted to do it because it was an opportunity too sweet to pass up,” stated Spriggs.
Too sweet it was. This past fall their dream became a reality. The team is now comprised of 18 girls - grades 9 through 12.
Spriggs expressed, “So far everyone is really impressed that the team was established. As a new program we’re doing pretty okay and I hope in the future we’ll be just as strong as the boys”
Wrestling has challenged them both mentally and physically. The team recognizes the difficulty of the sport, and are excited to work on strength, technique, agility, and endurance. Both competition and fun are their priorities.
Even with an inconsistent schedule, the team is nearing the end of their season. Two matches are left before state qualifiers at the beginning of February.
Other states such as California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Washington and even US territories such as Guam, sponsor a girls wrestling state championship.
Recent numbers provided by the National Federation of State High School Associations suggest a large increase in participation- 11,000 girls are competing in high school and more than 1,800 programs exist. This number has grown from a mere 804 participants in 1994.
Women’s wrestling in college has also seen a spike in participation. Currently 30 college teams are members, each consisting of 30+ members after the third year.
This year their national tournament is estimated to have 200+ attendees.
Colleges such as American International College, California State University, Cleveland State University, Douglas College, and Menlo College are all dominant in women's wrestling.
Since participation is relatively low compared to other NCAA sports, many athletic scholarships for girls wrestling aren’t being given. Even with the smallest recruiting budget, the chance of receiving one are high. Scholarships are also available for wrestlers who have high academic achievements or need financial aid.
Other organizations such as USA Wrestling, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), and the National United Wrestling Association for Youth (NUWAY) now offer development and participation activities for young girls to wrestle. Independent wrestling clubs have been established to support young girls.
“Girls wrestling is a great way for girls to show they are strong and confident women,’ expressed Spriggs. “Girls should never hold themselves back just because this sport is a mostly male dominated sport.”
Keep an eye out on Century’s social media (@century_updates) for more information on the girls wrestling schedule.