Wyoming Area parents, students voice support for forming girls' wrestling team

Mar. 19—EXETER — Parents and students again spoke at Tuesday's Wyoming Area School Board work session in support of forming a girls' wrestling team to provide equal opportunities for female athletes.

Eighth grade student Martina Boning, who is co-captain of the junior varsity team, said wrestling is her passion and she plans to continue with the sport when she goes to college.

However, Martina said other girls at Wyoming Area interested in wrestling "hesitate" to join the team "because they're uncomfortable wrestling against boys or worrying about getting seriously injured."

Creating a separate team for girls would help them "grow, compete and gain confidence in the sport," Boning said.

Giavonna Chapman, a junior on the varsity team, spoke about her positive wrestling experiences, such as traveling to different areas for competitions, as well as some negative ones.

Of note, Giavonna claimed that at a recent Coal Cracker tournament, she was supposed to wrestle a boy but he did not show up to the mat because "he told the tableworker he wasn't wrestling a girl."

"That was a missed opportunity for me," she said.

Tedd Lasher, the parent of an 8-year-old student who wrestled for the first time this year, said he wanted his daughter to have an equal opportunity to compete with other girls "at her level" as she advances in the sport.

Lasher said he hopes the board will listen to what parents and students had to say Tuesday.

"Every year that we wait to create [a girls' wrestling team] is a year that we're gonna be on the wrong side of this history," he said.

Tiffany Boning, who spoke at previous meetings, was frustrated that the school had not communicated new information with parents about forming a girls' team.

"Right now, female wrestlers at Wyoming Area are denied fair competition, their own resources, and a path to success," she said.

Boning suggested the school conduct a survey to determine the number of girls interested in forming a separate wrestling team.

Superintendent Jon Pollard apologized to Boning for not getting back in touch with her since they last spoke but did agree that surveying families would be the next step.

He also said he was in touch with officials at the PIAA about creating a girls' team.

Boning, still frustrated, said conversations about creating a girls' team had been ongoing for the last few years without progress.

In terms of fair accommodations, Board member Kirby Kunkle was concerned with one parent's statement, saying the girls were not able to use the girls' locker room for daily weigh-ins because it was not open — only the boys' locker room was open.

Because weigh-ins are done with undergarments for accuracy, girls were stuck waiting for the boys to be done before they could be weighed in, which would sometimes cut into mat time.

Pollard said he was unaware of this issue and made a note to get an extra set of scales that would be placed in an area accessible to the girls.

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