The gym at Franklin Community High School is packed after class these days, with student-athletes training for winter sports. On one side of the gym, a group of young women can be seen lifting weights, doing conditioning exercises, and undertaking drilling techniques such as takedowns and escapes. The look of determination on their faces is undeniable as they are chasing the possibility of a girls state championship banner for the first time.
The Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) voted in the spring to sanction girls wrestling at the high school level, becoming the 46th state to make the move.
This change is a major opportunity for thousands of female athletes in Indiana.
“We’re wrestling with a purpose now,” said Franklin Community High School senior Rachel Mills. Mills has been on the girls wrestling team for three years. “We’re wrestling for history.”
Mills played other sports before high school, including soccer and softball. Her journey to the mats began following a particularly challenging period. “I was in the hospital, diagnosed with anorexia,” she said. During her recovery, Mills said she began to change her relationship with health and food, but found she needed a purpose.
Around that time, a close friend invited her to watch a men’s wrestling practice. As she sat in the bleachers, Mills became inspired and, in her words, fell in love.
“It’s not just a sport to me – it’s a way of life,” she said. Mills trains two to three hours after school as the team builds up to its first sanctioned season opener in November.
Mills’ coach, Tina Tonte, is entering her third season at the helm of the Grizzly Cubs. She says it’s an honor to coach these women and be a part of history.
Tonte is also a longtime advocate for the sport, working with the Indiana State Wrestling Association (ISWA). “The ISWA has been behind this movement in many ways,” she said. “I attend the annual summit where advocates from all over the country have been asking for signatures, attendance, and support with rallies, alongside speaking engagements with congressmen around the country getting each state to recognize women’s wrestling as a high school-sanctioned sport.”
Tonte also credits Indiana High School Girls Wrestling (IHSGW), which has hosted the girls state final for the last eight years. “I was able to see how IHSAA Assistant Commissioner Robert Faulkens worked with ISWA and IHSGW for a great event,” Tonte said. “Another important partner is the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association and USA Wrestling. They provide coaches with education, camps and clinics. All these organizations and other wrestling leaders like myself and my husband advocate for this sport, and know the value it brings to a young person’s life.”
To Tonte’s credit, she had four wrestlers advance to the finals last year. She is hoping for similar success this season. “This season’s preparation is the same as last year,” Tonte said. “Recruit and build a women’s program. I have two high school girls attending a middle school call-out meeting to recruit other girls into the sport. My last three years with my high school team have been great, but now half of my roster will graduate in the spring. We are looking to build for the future.”
Faulkens says changes to the IHSAA bylaws concerning participation numbers also helped make the change possible. “We went from approximately 83 wrestlers the first time we had a tournament to over a thousand last year,” he said. “That’s over six years. Those numbers will continue to grow once we make it a championship sport. Last year we ended up with about 1,500 girls statewide, although I think that number was closer to 1,800 during the season.”
The statewide explosion in popularity matches closely with nationwide data. USA Wrestling reports more than 45,000 women are wrestling at the high school level as of spring 2024.
With sanctioning also comes the need for fundraising at the local level. “The girls will want what the boys have and that will take funding,” Tonte said. “This has kept me busy planning golf outings, pickleball tournaments, raffles and fundraisers. I want to partner with women-owned businesses – women empowering and supporting young women.”
“It shows women can do anything a man can do,” Mills said with a smile. “Wrestling has taught me so many life lessons. I struggle with patience. My coach told me something I took to heart – progress looks different for everyone. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, and everything happens in its own time.”
“Girls who wrestle are tough, brave, courageous and, most importantly, extraordinary,” Tonte said. “This is what makes wrestlers different from other people. This sport is for girls of all sizes, weights, colors and backgrounds. She can excel. She can get college scholarships. She can feel included and valued as a team and compete as an individual. The courage it takes to put a singlet on, step on a scale and then face an opponent in front of a crowd is something Franklin should come see this winter.”
Franklin Community High School’s varsity girls wrestling season begins November 13 on the road in Mooresville. Their complete schedule is available at gogrizzlycubs.com.
