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Girls’ wrestling: A sport on the rise
By Ben Lamparek, Hometown Current
Jul. 19, 2024 1:47 pm
Women’s sports have no doubt been on the rise at all levels in terms of growth, opportunity and attention in recent years.
In Iowa, this has been evident by the rapid growth of girls’ wrestling.
The sport was officially sanctioned by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union two years ago and has since seen skyrocketed numbers in participation.
One of these participants is Iowa Valley’s Breanna Peach.
Peach has been wrestling since a young age and got into the sport because of her older siblings.
“I originally started wrestling because I had older siblings who did it and it became a natural thing for me to do,” Peach said.
“It became one of the more important sports for me and one I was better at.”
Peach has become much better at the sport she has devoted a lot of time to. She was a runner-up at the State tournament last season and a medalist the season before, in her freshman year.
As the sport has grown, more girls have been willing to give it a try.
“The growth the past two years has been amazing, and there have been a lot of new girls who are willing to try it out and help the sport grow,” Peach said.
The Iowa Valley girls’ wrestling team had seven wrestlers on the roster last year, and that is something Peach is grateful for.
“I love the team and how we support each other. We have a lot of fun,” Peach said.
The growth of the sport was made even more prominent by the decision from the IGHSAU to split girls’ wrestling into two classes earlier this summer.
This decision will allow more opportunities to qualify for state and to have schools compete against schools closer to their size.
“It’s a good thing,” Peach said on the expansion to two classes. “It will allow more girls to have the fun of experiencing state.”
The question remains, what comes next in terms in the growth of girls’ wrestling?
“The next step in Iowa and nationally is to just continue to grow and to get as close to as large as boys’ wrestling,” Peach said. “More colleges getting women’s teams too.”
Growth at the youth level and the collegiate level will also be important for the sport to continue to progress forward.
More opportunities in college feels like it’ll be the next step.
The University of Iowa is one of only four Division I school with varsity women’s wrestling teams. Several other schools have wrestling clubs.
The Hawkeyes compete mostly against Division III and NAIA schools; women’s wrestling at those levels has grown a lot in numbers, especially in Iowa.
Iowa Valley graduate Kylie Loffer is set to join the Loras women’s wrestling program this fall, a Division III program.
Peach has had a lot of success already in her two-year career but has big goals for the winter season.
“My goal this upcoming season is to continue to work hard and keep improving. I wish to aim for the heavyweight title.”