Girls’ wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports in the nation. According to the Associated Press, the sport’s popularity increased by 60 percent in the past year.
“Girls’ wrestling in Lebo and across the country has absolutely exploded over the past five or so years,” said Mt. Lebanon coach Matt Kocher.
Kocher, who coaches advanced wrestling for girls in grades 4 to 6, saw the potential interest a few years back. “Once we offered girls-only programming, it really took off and exploded,” he said.
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association formally sanctioned girls’ wrestling in May, 2023, a win that Kocher attributed to grassroots advocacy from athletes, coaches and parents. Mt. Lebanon was one of 100 teams to join the campaign to sanction and formalize girls’ wrestling in the state.
“It was a very exciting thing to watch these teams join the effort,” Kocher said. “There was a running tally on social media, we were team number 68 and you’re just watching it every week, just ticking by [with] more teams,” Kocher said.
Despite its relative newness, the wrestling program has a few successes. Two wrestlers from Mt. Lebanon qualified for the state tournament in 2023, and 13-year-old Isla Silva represented Team USA for the Pan Am Games in El Salvador, as “Lebo’s first Team USA member in wrestling since Kurt Angle,” said Kocher.
High school junior Paige Jox has competed across North America in prestigious tournaments. Jox placed second at a WPIAL tournament, third at the Powerade Invitational tournament and won several matches at the USA Wrestling tournament in Fargo, North Dakota.
“The Fargo tournament is the biggest high school tournament in the country,” Jox said. “There are wrestlers from all over the country who go and there’s a lot of people in your bracket. I went with Team Pennsylvania and I ended up winning four matches, which is pretty big, so it placed me within the top 20 in the country.”
Jox said her dad, a lifelong wrestler, inspired her to join the team two years ago.
“The program has really helped me as a person,” Jox said. “I think it gave me a lot of confidence, a lot of reassurance in myself and my ability to do things. In life, if something is hard, I know wrestling is harder. I’ve been through so much and it’s really just changed my outlook on life. I’m able to push myself so hard because of wrestling.”
High school coach Amanda Lebec said girls’ wrestling promotes body positivity and confidence for young athletes.
“Something about wrestling that I think is so important to understand, is that it really is for anybody,” Lebec said. “I think it can help girls see their body in a different way, using it as a tool to overcome someone. And then what I think happens is that they gain confidence in using the body that they have, without wanting to change it or morph it.”
Jox said her teammates regularly support one another and share a bond that goes beyond the mat.
“The team is just super. It honestly feels like a family, like I have a bunch of sisters,” she said. “I know that they’ll all be there for me, and I’ll be there for them. I like the way we push each other and want each other to get better. It’s really positive and it’s something that you don’t see in a lot of sports, but the way we all cheer each other on is something that’s really special to me.”