Rhode Island Joins the Female Wrestling Bandwagon With New York by Making Historic Groundbreaking Addition

It was the Summer Olympics of 2004. For the first time, women’s freestyle wrestling was introduced in the games. Around 50 wrestlers took part in four different divisions. It has been twenty years since the debut and today there are more female wrestlers than ever. In Paris Olympics 2024 around 96 female wrestlers will be taking part for the Olympic gold. Meanwhile, in the US, female wrestling is on a roll with exciting new updates.

Days after New York opened the door for women in wrestling, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League joined the suite. The news is coming right on time, with the Paris Olympics just around the corner. It might just boost up more participation and interest in the sport.

New Wrestling opportunities at RIIL

On October  19, the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) announced on the X page, “Rhode Island Sanctions Girls Wrestling Championships”. This is the first time in the history of the league, to feature girls’ wrestling weight categories. This will be integrated into the existing Dual Meet Schedule. Side-by-side, it will also be included in the State Tournaments taking place during the regular season. These are arranged by the member schools.

The RIIL State Meet will have 12 weight categories exclusively for the women wrestlers. Alongside, It will also work as a qualifier for the 59th New England Championships. The tournament is set to raise its curtains on Friday, March 1st at the Providence Career & Technical Academy in Rhode Island. Again, this will be the first time girls’ wrestling will be featured in the New England Championships. The decision furthers another triumph that women’s wrestling witnessed recently.

 The New York shows the way

Very recently, New York opened the door for the women in wrestling. Kyra Barry, Chair of the New York Girls Wrestling Working Group said in an interview with Flowrestling, “Five years ago, when we looked at the path for a girls’ championship in New York we knew it would take longer than other states; we also knew that NY was uniquely positioned to choose freestyle for the girls.” 

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She acknowledged all the work that the New York coaches, administrators, advocates, and NYPHSAA put in order to succeed. It is because of them and their constant support that they were able to establish this. The good thing about the inclusivity of both announcements from the schools is that the championships will be more centered on girls. Generations of girls will be inspired and benefit from freestyle high school season.

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