Girls High School Wrestling: Folkstyle or Freestyle?
I was recently asked by my former coach at the United States Olympic Education Center (USOEC), Shannyn Gillespie, if I thought girls should wrestle freestyle or folkstyle in high school and why. Here are some quick thoughts on the topic.
Of course girls should wrestle freestyle in high school.
Freestyle wrestling is the natural path competitive interscholastic level girls will follow if they continue the sport through college and/or beyond. Additionally, I would suggest that freestyle wrestling presents various situations and challenges unique to the style that are preferential to creating action and a constant flow of movement. I.e., par terre, shot clocks, etc.
Folkstyle is not internationally recognized. Initially, it could be more difficult to support girls wrestling freestyle in high school because of the investment in officials and other regulatory guidelines, but our world level teams will benefit from greater depth in talent.
A response I hear often on my position is, “what if she just wants to be the best in the state for high school, not the world?”. Well, if the state championships are in freestyle and that is what girls compete in, then wouldn’t they still be the best in the state while also adding depth to the US national team competition pool?
The big picture goal, after all, is to be the best in the world. By teaching a single style at youth and interscholastic levels we are taking action directly related to achieving that goal.
We have the opportunity right now to define the way women’s wrestling is built within the United States. We have to ensure that we are asking questions that challenge the applicability of the system in place for boys/men’s wrestling to the one that WE build and accept for girls/women’s wrestling.
