This winter, a new sport will become part of the Minot High activities schedule; girls wrestling.

It will be the first time that the North Dakota High School Activities Association has sanctioned girls wrestling as its own sport. Previously, girls who wanted to participate in high school wrestling within the state would have to compete against boys. This comes one year before Minot State University is scheduled to introduce North Dakota’s first NCAA women’s wrestling team in the fall of 2022.

In the first year of girls high school wrestling, there will be no distinction between Class A and Class B as all participating schools will compete in the same class. According to the NDHSAA website, 38 schools besides Minot are listed as having a girls wrestling team this coming season.

Meanwhile, Minot High assistant boys wrestling coach Mitch Meyer has accepted the assignment of starting up the Magi’s girls program from scratch. Having been involved with wrestling for many years both as a student-athlete and as a coach, Meyer says his number one goal is to eliminate the stigma of wrestling as a boys-only activity and build a culture of appreciation for the sport.

“The first thing I need to do is just to get the girls in the wrestling room and encourage them to participate,” Meyer tells The Minot Daily News. “There are so many misconceptions about wrestling, but when you break it down, all the moves are the same regardless of weight and regardless of gender. Once I have a group of student-athletes who learn to love the sport, success within the program will take care of itself.”

According to Meyer, varsity competition will consist of girls from grades 7-12 and there will be 14 weight classes ranging from 100-250 pounds. Initially, Meyer was expecting 15-20 student-athletes to be among the team’s participants. However, the coach says that about 32 girls have expressed interest in trying out for the team so far. The Magi squad will take part in its first team practice on Monday at Jim Hill Middle School.

As far as scheduling is concerned, the Minot girls plan to mirror its boys wrestling schedule as much as possible. However, competing in triangulars and tournaments like the boys team may prove to be difficult in the early stages. Minot’s first dual meet of the season is set to take place at Williston on Nov. 23.

With no practice time scheduled until next week, Meyer’s expectations of the inaugural girls wrestling season remains unknown. Nonetheless, the veteran high school coach believes there is great potential with the idea of adding girls wrestling to the slate of scholastic winter sports activities.

“When girls who want to play a high school sport have to compete against boys in wrestling or football for example, the participation numbers for girls are diminished. But now that they have their own space to compete against one another, I think you will see those participation numbers rise. Girls wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports in the country and I’m very excited to be a part of this process,” Meyer adds.