How girls wrestling has grown in Centre County 2 years after becoming official PIAA sport

After wrestling at James Martin High School in Arlington, Texas, in the early 2010s, Eshia Willingham headed east to Penn State’s University Park campus for the next chapter of her life. A pair of knee injuries led her to change mats from gymnastics to wrestling, and she had quickly become enamored with the sport.

Not long after she arrived in State College, Willingham noticed a glaring absence in the lack of high school girls wrestling, not only in the Centre Region but throughout the commonwealth.

Much has changed in those 10 years.

Following the sanction in July 2023 by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association that officially made girls wrestling a recognized sport, Willingham is entering her second season as head coach of State College Area High’s girls wrestling program.

“I wrestled in high school in 2012-2013, and we had an all-girls wrestling team and we wrestled in girls’ states, and everybody had full rosters back in 2013 and before that,” Willingham said. “So when I moved to Pennsylvania to go to school and wanted to get involved (in high school wrestling) there were no girls’ wrestling programs in the area and I was super surprised by that. So it’s nice after so many years of living here that we finally have a space for girls wrestling.”

One of the wrestlers on her team, Isabelle Dubler, recalled trips to Rec Hall for Penn State wrestling duals when she was younger. Those matches, she said, stoked an interest in wrestling that stuck.

Dubler joined the Little Lions’ inaugural team under Willingham. She said the program’s addition last year helped generate a buzz and interest among her classmates. State College has nine wrestlers on its high-school roster this season.

“This year, a lot more girls realized how much fun we had last year, and they joined and they’re having a lot of fun themselves,” said Dubler, a sophomore. “It also feels stronger this year. We now have a lot more support and a lot more girls compared to last year.”

Growth of programs across Centre County

In addition to State College, other Centre County schools with girls wrestling programs — so far — are Bald Eagle Area and Philipsburg-Osceola Area.

Ed Hockenberry has coached Bald Eagle wrestling teams for more than two decades. It’s a role he’s held since graduating college in 2001, and last year marked his first as the high school’s girls’ head wrestling coach. The Eagles produced three state qualifiers this spring, and now-senior Grace Crestani claimed an eighth-place finish in Hershey.

Hockenberry entered this season with nine wrestlers.

He cited central Pennsylvania’s affinity for wrestling and the area’s historical contributions to the sport as reasons he believes PIAA’s newly sanctioned sport will thrive.

“In the future, I foresee it really being something,” he said. “We’re going to see gains in this sport to where in five to seven years, it’s going to be super competitive. It already is now, but I really think you’re going to see a big jump.”

Bellefonte currently competes as a club sport at the varsity level under the sponsorship of the Bellefonte Wrestling Association. The school has hopes to add a high school team following a required period of time required by Bellefonte Area School District policy where it must show three successful years as a club team before detachment. Bellefonte’s club team is in its first year.

“Our big numbers right now are in our youth program,” Bellefonte Junior High head coach Evan Benner said. “We have 20, 25 girls in the youth program. We’re really trying to recruit here for the junior high and the varsity level, but we’re two or three years away from having some really big numbers at (the high school) level.”

Bellefonte’s program features four freshmen who hope to be part of that inaugural season, including Ella Johnsonbaugh and Carly Blair. The former has wrestled for the past three years. While the season is still young, Johnsonbaugh can already feel a sense of camaraderie building among her teammates. Without hesitation, she pointed to the memories and fun she enjoyed on the first road trip of the season.

Johnsonbaugh and her teammates are carving a path for girls in the future to compete and represent Bellefonte on the high school stage.

“It’s an opportunity for kids in the future — for more to come out,” she said.

Growing support offers new opportunities

Johnsonbaugh and Blair were classmates in third grade. Blair wrestled in the second and third grades but stopped as she became older. The opportunity to compete in a PIAA-sanctioned sport in the future allows Blair to fulfill a dream that wasn’t available in the past.

“It’s really exciting for me because I always wanted to place at states, and it will make it easier for me to compete more,” Blair said. “Because (with) wrestling guys, I’m somewhat put at a disadvantage because most guys have been wrestling for a while.”

The community support and interest this season has been striking, according to Benner, and it offers a glimpse into the program’s future.

“We’ve had one home dual meet so far and one away meet at Bald Eagle, and both of those during that time, the girls’ matches were probably the loudest matches of the evening as far as crowd reception and crowd response,” Benner said in mid-December.

Before the PIAA officially sanctioned girls high school wrestling, the organization needed a commitment from 100 schools in Pennsylvania. In the year before the PIAA’s historic move, Chris McCully headed the Philipsburg-based Mat Queens Wrestling Club. The group consisted of girls from the Philipsburg area who practiced together and sought open competitions around the commonwealth.

As momentum around Pennsylvania high schools grew and collected the commitment from 100 programs, so did momentum for the Mat Queens, as interest and participation continued to balloon. And for McCully, so did the push for Philipsburg-Osceola to be part of the original 100. He had the full support of his school’s athletic brass behind him.

“It was unanimous — it was quick,” McCully said of the meeting that produced the approving vote. “We were sanctioned that night. We were either No. 95 or 96. We were one of the original 100.”

McCully was officially named head coach not long after the vote, and the program officially launched in the following months. Isabella DuVall spearheaded Philipsburg-Osceola’s and McCully’s first-year program and placed third at the PIAA girls’ championships earlier this spring.

“I think the best thing about that experience is that PIAA went all out,” McCully said. “They put the girls on the center mat — the boys wrestled on the two outside mats — and they were centerstage for everyone. They did a special introduction for the girls to come out. It was really something.”

DuVall graduated in May. Philipsburg-Osceola now looks to sophomore Charli Hunt to help the program build on the success it established in its inaugural year. Hunt fell one match shy of qualifying for the state tournament last season. Hunt is one of six wrestlers competing for the Mountaineers this year.

“She made the Pennsylvania National Team over the summer; she’s just an incredible kid,” McCully said. “She’s gone out and found us new girls this year. We actually have seven girls on our varsity team this year.”

According to the PIAA’s website, 241 high schools across Pennsylvania’s 12 Districts feature girls wrestling teams. As the sport continues to increase in numbers and popularity, so do new opportunities.

The significance isn’t lost on Willingham. A decade after leaving Texas for Pennsylvania, she finally has a program and an outlet by which she hopes to inspire and cultivate a new generation of high school wrestlers.

“As the sport grows, we’ll see even more women who are moving on from the collegiate level come down and hopefully coach the high school level in their free time,” Willingham said. “As a woman in the sport, seeing that need for women and girl mentors, that’s what’s awesome and means a lot. Not to take away from any male-led program — those programs tend to be amazing — but it’s really nice as a woman to be a mentor in this space. It’s just a phenomenal opportunity to be part of any program in the area, in Pennsylvania or around America.”

This story was originally published December 30, 2024 at 6:00 AM.