NCHSAA discusses girls wrestling, moves dual-team championships to neutral court

The N.C. High School Athletic Association knows that girls wrestling participation is on the rise, but the board of directors will take some more time before finding a way to better incorporate it.

But the board did approve moving the dual-team championships to a neutral site to be determined.

There were more than 300 female wrestlers in the NCHSAA last season, said commissioner Que Tucker. But only one girls wrestler has ever advanced out of a regional tournament to the state competition.

“If we have that many scattered across the state who are wrestling, but then because they’re having to wrestle against the guys, maybe we need to be more intentional to give them an opportunity for them to wrestle each other,” Tucker said. “What that looks like we don’t know. We don’t have any idea. Are we talking about some type of an invitational at some point in time that we might have? ... We’re not ready to make it a sport yet because we don’t have enough to say ‘OK, now women’s wrestling can stand on its own and we have teams.”

Dual-team wrestling championships have previously been hosted by either the East or West regional champion. It was the only NCHSAA championship that was still played on a home court.

Last winter, Rosewood traveled almost six hours one-way to West champion Robbinsville.

The board also approved a measure that a first responder or athletic trainer must be in the competition area in which a wrestling event is taking place. For instance, a tournament that is taking place in two gyms in the same school must have one individual per gym.

This story was originally published May 3, 2017 at 11:22 AM with the headline "NCHSAA discusses girls wrestling, moves dual-team championships to neutral court."