Frederick seeking more participants for girls-only wrestling tournament

Frederick High School is set to host the first-ever girls-only wrestling tournament later this month, and the school is actively seeking more participants to ensure the event is successful as possible.

The tournament, set for Jan. 14 at the high school, currently has 28 girls signed up. The plan is to use seven weight classes, with a goal of eight wrestlers per bracket.

Frederick athletic director Ernie Derrera, the chair of CHSAA’s wrestling committee, said the tournament will try and wrestle girls at the 101-, 111-, 121-, 131-, 143-, 160- and 189-pound divisions. However, he added, “We’ll be flexible in those weight classes.”

The tournament’s goal “is to get these girls matches,” Derrera said on Tuesday, adding that girls who get knocked out of the bracket would be matched up against “somebody else who’s out of the tournament.”

“There will be some flexibility just to make sure people are seeing what’s going on, that they are understanding that we are making some effort to give some serious consideration to the girls as their own sport,” Derrera said.

Girls interested in attending the event must be members of their high school teams. However, they don’t need to have been members since the start of the season. That means that, potentially, a girl could join her school’s team this week in order to get the necessary five practices in prior to competing.

“If their coach is willing to take them now, they can compete,” Derrera said.

Derrera recently reached out to all wrestling coaches seeking more females who want to take part in the tournament. Currently there are 164 female wrestlers listed on rosters for Colorado high schools, competing at 96 different programs.

Since the tournament was announced, a lot of buzz has been generated around the event both locally and nationally. In fact, Derrera recently heard from a coach in eastern Nebraska who is considering bringing six girls.

The deadline for entrants is Jan. 12. Coaches interested in the event should contact Derrera at derrera_ernest@svvsd.org.

Two further girls-only wrestling tournaments are being planned: one at Highlands Ranch on Jan. 21, and another at Silver Creek, possibly on Jan. 28.