Murray, NEB – Girls wrestling has been a sanctioned sport since last winter. This season the Board of Directors of the Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) has made more improvements to the girls sport to make it as equal to the boys as they can with the numbers they are receiving.

Last year the NSAA sanctioned girls wrestling as an official sport in Nebraska. Allowing girls to compete against each other, have their own teams, tournaments, and state competition. There were 125 schools that registered to have their very own girls wrestling team. The sport consisted of 12 weight classes, two less than the boys. When it came time for the state competition the girls had four less competitors in each bracket than the boys. Each year the boys get 16 qualifiers for each weight class, while the girls only had 12 during the state competition last year.

According to the NSAA website they have increased the number of girls weight classes to the 14 NFHS weight classes ( 100, 105, 110, 115, 120, 125, 130, 135, 140, 145, 155, 170, 190 and 235) to match the number of boys weight classes. For this upcoming season they are dividing districts using the method from class B, where the top 16 teams (based on returning points and qualifiers) will be serpentined across the state. When it comes to the state competition, the girls will have the equivalent number of wrestlers in each bracket to the boys. The Girls State Championship will happen concurrently with the Boys State Championship at the CHI Health Center. The girls have the same contest limitation as NSAA Wrestling. They are allowed 18 competition events for girls.