On May 7, 2025, the VHSL executive committee approved girls wrestling as a fully sanctioned sport (InsideNova). As a result, girls wrestling received full recognition. The road to approval started in September 2022, when the VHSL executive committee approved girls wrestling as an “emerging sport,” meaning that it would enter a three-year trial period. During the trial period, more than half of the wrestling teams in Virginia were required to have at least one female on the team (not including Kettle Run). This also meant that individually, the points of female wrestlers would be separated from the boys. Female participation skyrocketed from 273 to 401, until it eventually hit 631 participants in the state of Virginia (InsideNova).
Kettle Run’s athletic director, Coach Paul Frye, supports the idea of girls having their own wrestling team. Frye stated that he “never was a proponent of girls wrestling guys,” because he believes in the effort to keep everyone in spaces where they feel comfortable. He fully advocates for separate girls’ and boys’ spaces within sports to keep everyone respectful and safe.
Frye also confirmed that in order to start a girls’ team, at least eight girls are needed to fill the required weight classes. However, if not enough girls try out to create a separate girls’ team, Frye welcomes those who are interested to join the currently unseparated team. Frye stressed that not having enough girls to make a separate team will not prevent girls from participating in the sport altogether.
Writing this article is not just about educating the school about the newly sanctioned sport; it is about getting our voices out to the public and supporting the ability of our school to create a girls’ team! With girls wrestling now being an officially sanctioned sport, it is important for us to use this opportunity to our best advantage.
Kettle Run Principal Dorr is also a strong supporter of girls having their own team. Speaking about the future of the sport, she stated, “I think that girls wrestling is going to be big.” Principal Dorr talked to us about how she believes this is something we can achieve as a school. She stands up for girls being strong and capable in this sport, while also talking about how it would be best for the girls to have their own team and female locker room supervision.
When discussing the opportunities a new team could create for students, Dorr said, “If girls wrestling is a connection point for Kettle Run, amazing.” For her, having another team at Kettle Run is a great way to open up more opportunities, inspire students to try something new, and celebrate the bright future of our high school. “At the end of the day, I think we can do it,” stated Principal Dorr with great enthusiasm.
We are inviting you, Cougar girls, to come and try out for the first-ever Kettle Run girls wrestling team! The tryout date for the girls’ wrestling team is November 9th. We are so excited to see what everybody’s got to show. Our staff at Kettle Run believes that we can do this, and so should our students. So please come and try out for the team and show us what you’ve got!
Tryouts begin November 9th. Click here to fill out the interest form.
