The snow that prompted school cancellations throughout the region forced the delay of the District 1 3A girls wrestling tournament that was to take place Friday and Saturday. The tournament is scheduled for Feb. 14 and Feb. 15 at Oak Harbor High School.

Oak Harbor girls wrestling coach Mike Crebbin said that wrestlers haven’t had practice time. For example, classes in Ferndale have been canceled for most of the week. Coaches voted to delay the girls tournament.

The Wildcats capped off a strong regular season that saw the team tied at the top of the Northwest Conference. They lost by one point against Sedro-Woolley Jan. 23.

“It was a hard-fought match,” Crebbin said. “The girls have come a long way in terms of development.”

Oak Harbor has also had impressive showings at tournaments throughout the season. The Wildcats won the Rock Island Rumble that Oak Harbor hosted and the Wrecking Ball tournament in Woodinville. They placed second at Athena’s Pageant in Auburn Jan. 25.

“We wanted to have stiff competition before we have a two-week break,” Crebbin said about competing in the Auburn tournament where Oak Harbor was one of 25 teams.

Although Oak Harbor didn’t have any champions at Auburn, seven wrestlers placed. Julia Gonzales placed third at 100 pounds, Jayanna Ivory placed fourth at 120 pounds, Emma Whalen placed second at 120 pounds, Sarai Egli placed fourth at 130 pounds, Cady Ritz placed fourth at 170 pounds, Loto Tupu placed second at 190 pounds and Olivia Hudson placed second at 235 pounds, according to results posted on Track Wrestling.

Crebbin noted that Gonzales, Whalen, Maddy Brooks, Ritz, Tupu and Hudson had strong seasons. In addition, Genesis Egli has lost two matches throughout the season, both to the same girl.

Oak Harbor will experience a different postseason this year with more classifications having tournaments. Recent years saw Oak Harbor competing in a combined 4A/3A tournament. Due to the increased numbers of girls competing, Washington is holding tournaments in 4A, 3A, 2A classifications and a combined 1A, 1B and 2B.

“Washington state has been at the forefront of girls wrestling nationwide,” said Justin Kesterson, assistant executive director at the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.

Washington held its first girls wrestling tournament as an invitational in 2007 before becoming a formal tournament a year later, Kesterson said. Washington held a single wrestling tournament for all classifications until 2023.

Washington has around 3,700 eligible girl wrestlers, which is 500 more than the previous year. Around 11,000 boys participate in wrestling, which is 700 more than last season.

“We have slowly seen those numbers increase year after year,” Kesterson said adding the growth is great for the overall health of the sport.

A school needs at least eight wrestlers to be certified as a team, he said, and there were enough teams in three classifications to hold a separate tournament. 4A schools have 55 eligible teams, 3A has 46 teams, and 2A has 42 teams.

Girls wrestling has been growing nationwide. Wrestle Like a Girl is a global advocacy organization for girls and women in the sport of wrestling. When the organization was founded nine years ago, there were 17,000 girls in wrestling. That number increased to 65,000 girls, said Sally Roberts, CEO of Wrestle Like a Girl.

The sport is growing at the collegiate level. The first NCAA national championships are scheduled to take place at Division I, Division II and Division III beginning in the 2025-26 season.

“It’s become one of the fastest growing sports in the United States of America,” Roberts, who graduated from Federal Way High School, said.

Photo by John Fisken