As girls wrestling continues to grow both locally and nationwide, parents may be looking for a starting off point to give their daughters an introduction to the sport.
Even experienced wrestlers could use a few pointers from another viable source and pick up a new or varied technique.
That option is available this Sunday and for the next few. The best part? It’s free.
Tommie Goff is the owner and operator of GT Wrestling in Weirton and the newly named girls’ wrestling team coach at nearby Steubenville Big Red. He is offering up his gym, and expertise, to area young ladies looking to start building or continue to expand their skills on the mat.
This Sunday will mark the second session of what Goff is hoping runs deep into September.
Thus far, the turnout has been positive.
“We had a good mix of girls from different schools, different ages and experience levels,” Goff said. “We had from 7-8years old up to about five or six high school girls. Some had wrestled in the past. Some, it was their first night wrestling.
“It was a good mix.”
Wrestlers from as far away as the East Liverpool and Beaver Local school districts in Ohio have made it down, along with one who wrestles for Boardman High School in Youngstown. The Weirton, Avella, Burgettstown, Oak Glen are represented as well.
But the class roll isn’t limited to athletes from the northern stretches of the OVAC.
After all, the goal is to continue helping the sport grow.
Teams Needed, Competitors Wanted
Big Red is the only high school locally with an official girls’ wrestling team. Plenty of schools though have girls on their respective wrestling teams.
Warren, in the southern end of the OVAC footprint, has a returning girls’ state champion in sophomore Hayley Snyder. Ellie Paterra, who recently picked up her diploma from Indian Creek, was second at that same meet in early 2020.
The athletes are out there. But more are needed and those already working the mats are learning they can band together to form their own teams.
“I talked to some of the older girls and explained to them how they could run a team with just a couple of girls and put together a girls’ only schedule for them,” Goff said. “The big thing is you need a coach that is able to travel with the girl to all the events. Not every school has that setup with a larger staff. If the boys’ and girls’ teams each have an event that day, dedicated staff has to be at both events.
“That makes it difficult. But even if you can’t put together a complete girls’ schedule, you can put together something smaller with a few events.”
The #SanctionOH push in the Buckeye State is working to bring girls’ wrestling further into the mainstream. Realistically, the sanctioning of the sports in Ohio is likely one more successful state tournament away from happening. The 2021-22 school year very well could be the year.
There’s no official similar push in West Virginia or Pennsylvania yet, but official sanctioning in a major border state could help jumpstart such a move.
An All-Girls’ OVACs?
On the local level, state recognition in Ohio should start to produce an influx of teams locally. There are number of schools with traditionally strong wrestling programs.
The OVAC itself holds one of the top prep wrestling tournaments nationwide annually with the OVAC tournament.
But what will it take for the girls to have their own OVACs?
LedeNews.com asked Dr. Dan Doyle, the wrestling commissioner for the OVAC that very question.
“By policy, if 25 percent of our member schools sponsored girls’ wrestling, we would have a championship,” Doyle said via email. “I do think it’s just a matter of time.”
Time and wrestlers.
In past OVAC tournaments, so of the smaller schools, say like Fort Frye, or St. John or even Linsly, entered with tournament with a roster only a couple of wrestlers.
When you have a 50-team strong tournament, that will work.
But for a girls’ OVACs to function, the majority of those 25 percent or better schools that field a team will need a full or near full roster.
Otherwise, it will be tough to fill out a tournament bracket for some of the weight classes.
Moving Forward
“The key will be getting more girls into the youth wrestling programs and keeping them in the system,” Goff said. “That will help give a school more athletes to start a program with.”
For now, Goff is doing his part to help grow interest and excitement in the sports for young ladies in the Ohio Valley.
“We went into this wanting to help build the sport,” Goff said. “A lot of experienced girls showed up, which help us also with the new girls as they can feed off that competitive spirit. We’re helping to build a foundation of basic moves.
“But even for the experienced wrestlers, some of the stuff I show them is a bit different than what other coaches might.”
GT Wrestling is located at 3009 Main Street in Weirton. For more information, visit its Facebook page or call/text Goff at (740) 457-6200
