The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association still has details to finalize, but has already made the commitment to host the historic first PIAA girls wrestling championship alongside the boys event at Hershey’s Giant Center next March 7-9.
That will be the same site, same weekend and part of the same schedule for a bigger event with more wrestling than ever. The PIAA said it will continue to use its six-mat floor setup at Giant Center for an event expected to welcome 208 more participants for the girls tournament.
The PIAA’s approach in the launch of its first girls wrestling season was to begin with that commitment to the final step of the postseason and work backwards. Details are still being ironed out for formatting postseason qualifying tournaments and for the daily schedule of a bigger state championship event at the same site, but that’s all being done with insistence from the PIAA that girls have the exact same experience in Hershey as the boys do.
“The end game is finalized,” PIAA chief operating officer Mark Byers said. “Girls are going to be wrestling right alongside the boys at the PIAA championships, the 7th through the 9th, at the Giant Center.”
Before girls wrestling was sanctioned by the PIAA after the 2022-’23 season, the girls state championship event was often held at a high school, most recently at Central Dauphin, the day after the boys state tournament. Being pulled under the PIAA umbrella immediately meant no more deferring the spotlight to the boys. The two sports will share the dates, venue and coverage and get equal visibility with the Giant Center crowd.
Doing so means the days will certainly be longer and formatted differently, but they also present a chance to watch ALL of Pennsylvania’s best wrestlers at the same event. That should be viewed as a win for everyone, says Brooke Zumas, who was part of a SanctionPA team that spearheaded the push to recognize girls wrestling as an official PIAA sport.
“Having boys and girls wrestle alongside each other in the Giant Center embodies the spirit of this sport,” Zumas said. “Both boys and girls from this state lead the country in this sport, and now they’ll get to showcase their skills at the same time. Wrestlers, coaches, administrators, fans, and families will get to experience all of it.
“The new structure will support the growth of girls wrestling while also being an incredible showcase of Class AA and AAA boys wrestling. This is a dynamic adjustment that should energize the tournament and honor the tradition of Pennsylvania wrestling.”
The hope is that schedule adjustments don’t lead to additional hours at the Giant Center for the wrestlers themselves. Coaches, especially those who help with both boys and girls teams, could be in for longer days, as could media and tournament personnel. But Byers said efforts to streamline the event could be a key to a better flow for the tournament.
One particular area of benefit could be in the consolidation of sessions that have required all fans to grudgingly exit the Giant Center and pay to re-enter. Any improvement to that part of the fan experience could help offset the added time, though the prospect of longer days does come with “bonus” high-level wrestling by adding a third championship event.
“I don’t know how it’s gonna be any less because we’re adding 16-wrestler brackets to a tournament schedule that’s pretty finite right now,” Byers said. “I think it’s going to be longer, but by combining sessions, we won’t have the in and out. You’re not going to have the down time. So for the wrestlers, they’re going to be participating very similarly to how they have in the past, with no more than two bouts on any given day.”
The schedule as a whole is still up for discussion. So is the format for the championship finals, which have previously been split into two sessions for Class 2A and Class 3A. Both of those sessions featured four mats with all placement matches in each weight class being wrestled at once.
A third classification enters the mix and perhaps gives the PIAA a chance to wrestle all three championship finals on three mats at the same time. While etching that format in stone is premature, much of the discussion currently centers around making it work.
“We’re working out logistics of medaling three classes simultaneously,” Byers said. “It will be a little longer than the current setup. Location may also be a concern with permitting parents down on the floor. It just needs more conversation.”
And in terms of the prospects of a separate PIAA girls team championship, that event will not be taking place this season, which is the second year of a PIAA classification window. There’s an advantage to be found in that all sides can learn every possible lesson from Year 1 of the individual tournament with hopes of carrying that knowledge to a team championship tournament.
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