'A long time coming': Evansville area girls wrestling coaches excited for IHSAA future

EVANSVILLE — Girls wrestling coaches across the state were excited to hear some long-anticipated news from the IHSAA.

The IHSAA's board of directors last Monday approved girls wrestling and boys volleyball as fully recognized sports starting next school year. They had each been classified as emerging sports with the IHSAA since 2022. While Evansville area school officials said there will be no boys volleyball teams starting up for the 2025 spring season, the rapid growth of girls wrestling should continue.

There were over 1,400 girls wrestlers across 177 high schools last winter, surpassing the required threshold of 100 schools required to make it a fully recognized sport.

Evansville sports: As more high schools start teams, girls wrestling is 'just getting better' in SW Indiana

"It’s awesome to finally have girls wrestling sanctioned," Mount Vernon coach Ashton Forzley said. "A lot of people across the state have put in countless hours of hard work and dedication to get to this point. The team was excited to hear the news. They finally get to compete for an IHSAA state championship."

"I'd like to say it was a long time coming," Reitz coach Scott Ferguson added. "We just finished our second season as an emerging sport. Very excited to see what the future holds for women's wrestling in Southwestern Indiana."

Bosse coach Stephan Mullen said he anticipates more Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. schools will start their own girls wrestling programs in the future. The Bulldogs, Reitz and Central are the only three EVSC high schools with these teams this past winter.

"There's still a lot of girls that probably don't even know that girls wrestling is something. They probably think they still have to wrestle on the boys team," Mullen said. "Like I told our girls, now that it's sanctioned, there will be a lot more tournaments just for you guys as well, which would be awesome. More opportunities to continue to grow the sport."

Many of the wrestling teams across Southwestern Indiana were built by word of mouth. There were girls who had never wrestled before but grew into solid grapplers over time. Forzley pointed out the successful career of senior Hannah West, who won three IHSGW state titles.

While West won't be able to compete for an IHSAA state title, she left a lasting mark with the Wildcats and inspired others to give the sport a try.

"Most of the girls on the team had zero wrestling experience or were heavily invested in other sports," Forzley said. "That group would set records, win championships and fall in love with wrestling. It’s hard for me to put into words how proud I am of all these girls; their hard work and dedication has started a wave that will carry for generations."

IHSAA wrestling: Two Mater Dei wrestlers advanced to the state championship. Both fell short.

Coaches said they will hear more from the IHSAA about how the postseason would work at a later date. Forzley would like to see the girls and boys tournaments run simultaneously at the same locations. But for now, one of the main goals is to continue building youth programs.

Southwestern Indiana has been successful in girls wrestling with multiple state champions and a slew of placers over recent years. There were six grapplers across four different schools who placed at last year's state finals in Kokomo. They've laid the groundwork for the next generation of girls wrestlers.

"We've had state champions on both the boys and the girls side, and it'll be fun to see kids continue that tradition," Central coach Brandon Robards said. "We already had a girl qualify for semistate as a freshman. I think her chances of winning a state title are high if she keeps working. Hopefully, more girls join that quest."

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville area girls wrestling coaches excited for IHSAA future