Slippery Rock approves varsity girls wrestling program, becoming 4th in Butler County
The Slippery Rock Area School Board approved the creation of a girls wrestling program Monday.
Kevin Shamblin, Slippery Rock’s JV boys wrestling coach, said the interest has always been there. The boys wrestling team has had girls on its roster for the past six years, Shamblin said, but others coming up through youth wrestling may be more willing to join a girls-only varsity team.
“There’s been quite a few girls that have come up through the youth program, we’ve had girls wrestling at the varsity program going back years now,” Shamblin said. “One of our varsity assistant coaches has three daughters — they were wrestling in girls wrestling, in national competitions 15 years ago. One’s actually on the staff at Laurel now for girls wrestling. And just recently we had Lexi Doerflinger, who was a state medalist.”
The PIAA sanctioned girls wrestling in May 2023, and the sport has continued to grow across the state. There are three girls teams in Butler County, according to the PIAA: Butler, Knoch and Seneca Valley.
“It’s been growing statewide, and nationwide, and our numbers look pretty good now for participation levels,” Shamblin said, adding about a dozen girls are currently in Slippery Rock’s youth program.
The program should start up officially by Dec. 15, according to Shamblin. He met with the school board during the board’s athletic committee meeting Monday evening to go over logistics, such as scheduling.
“They never had solely a girls tournament until a few years ago, now the state’s on board and schools are jumping on board as fast as they can, because the opportunities are just ... the time has come for girls sports,” Shamblin said.
