Today was a big day for girls wrestling in Nebraska. Earlier this morning in a 7-1 vote, the NSAA board passed girls wrestling as an emerging high school sport. This afternoon, the NSAA Repsententative assembly voted against sanctioning the sport 28-23, in a vote that needed 31 to pass. While it is sad to see it not pass as a fully sanctioned sport, recognizing it as an emerging sport is a huge step in the right direction. Now that it has passed as an emerging sport, we will likely see the numbers increase of girls participating and some ground work start to be developed for when the sport becomes fully sanctioned. Seeing numbers increase will be one of the key factors the NSAA board of directors will watch, to help them determine when they will sanction it.

What does it mean for girls wrestling to be an emerging sport? 

This means that the NSAA notices that girls wrestling is growing in the state and has a close eye on it. From what we understand, it also means that the NSAA board can now vote to adopt Girls wrestling as a sanctioned sport whenever they feel they are ready. This also allows girls to continue to compete on both the boys and girls teams. The NSWCA would still hold and be responsible for the girls state wrestling tournament. This also allows the state time to lay some ground work for when it does become sanctioned. Things would need to be established such as, weight classes, a qualifying process for their state tournament, and other bylaws that would need to be set like where and who can girls practice with. It also allows the schools time to grow teams, find coaches, and places to practice and compete.