Girls wrestling is an official sport

The Patriots have been wrestling for the past eight years. Now, they will finally be recognized for it.

During its April meeting on Monday, the IHSAA board of directors voted to fully recognize girls wrestling and boys volleyball as IHSAA sanctioned sports.

Both sports will receive recognition for the first time during the 2024-25 sports season.

The Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association has been conducting a state tournament since 2017 and girls wrestling got added to the Emerging Sport Process back in 2022. Since then, the sport has grown to include over 1,400 athletes representing 117 different schools.

Girls wrestling will continue to be a winter sport and boys volleyball will remain in the spring, but details on their IHSAA state tournaments will be announced in the coming months.

The Patriots have sent 15 wrestlers to the state tournament for 27 total appearances. Twenty-one of those 27 appearances have resulted in a medal, including three state championships by Mallory Winner. 

Lizzie Dollar also made the championship match twice, finishing as the runner-up in 2019 and 2020. 

Winner will get the opportunity to win her fourth state championship and her first one as an official IHSAA sport in the coming year.