Wednesday June 5th 2019, was an important day for the Wrestling Community in the state of Arkansas.
The Arkansas Activities Association (AAA) wasted no time yesterday sanctioning Women’s Wrestling for High School Girls in Arkansas by passing the motion unanimously! They wanted to give young women a chance to wrestle girls as they know this will open more opportunities for women in Arkansas.
"I believe participation will increase 300-400% now that young women in Arkansas know they can wrestle other women for a State Title instead of boys. This will inspire the girls to participate and will also encourage parents to encourage their girls to wrestle. Why shouldn’t girls get the benefits that Wrestling teaches, such as character,
self discipline, self defense, weight control and accountability? With wrestling, there are no substitutions, no timeouts, no halftimes, and no excuses. These are valuable lessons that we all can benefit from. Thanks to the Arkansas Activities Association’s Lance Taylor, Don Brodell and the Board for making this historic decision!" - Greg Hatcher
Arkansas now becomes the only state in the country to have Men and Wonen's High School Wrestling, while also having a Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, Juco, and Women’s College Wrestling Program in their State
.
Women’s wrestling will start this year (2019-20). Women will have the right to wrestle on the Men’s team if they like during the season to get more matches or just against girls during the season or both. Once we get to the State Tournament, girls will have to choose to wrestle in either the Women’s State Championships held on Thursday at the Stephens Center at UALR or in the Men’s Championships held on Friday and Saturday but cannot wrestle in both.
