Second Place at All-Girls Wrestling Tourney!

Got home late last night from a weekend in New Jersey, attending our first all-girls wrestling tournament, the USGWA New Jersey Girls Wrestling State Championships Open. Lexi placed second in her weight grouping, winning three matches (one with a pin and one in double overtime) and losing one. More importantly, she had a great time, and made some new wrestling friends from other states. One of the organizers commented on his past experience with girls' tournaments, noting that the girls are much more likely than the boys to get together after competing and hug and make friends with each other.

Most of the girls we talked to were in the same position as Lexi--participating on boys' wrestling teams, often as the only girl, and attending events like this after the season. A recent USA Today article on girls' wrestling noted that the number of high school girls wrestling nationwide is currently about 4000, up from about 100 in 1990.

If you're interested in all-girls wrestling, here's the go-to group: the US Girls Wrestling Association, or USGWA.

And here are some pix from the tourney.