Harry S. Truman High School, the 53rd school to add girls wrestling as a sport in the state, was excited to make history and help girls wrestling become a sanctioned sport.
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To become a high school varsity sport, 100 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) member schools needed to sponsor girls wrestling first. After that milestone took place, the PIAA Board of Directors voted unanimously to approve girls wrestling, which will officially debut as a high school varsity sport in the 2023-2024 winter sports season.
Truman High School began girls wrestling for the 2022-2023 school year and two students, Stacy Couillard and Isabella Dias, currently a senior and junior, were instrumental in forming a girls team. They both wrestled on the boys team since seventh grade and are proud to see girls wrestling as an official sport.
Couillard says this recognition not only validates girls’ hard work, but also inspires more girls to take up wrestling and pursue their athletic dreams.
Credit: Submitted
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“For years, girls like myself have been passionate about wrestling, dedicating countless hours to training and competing. However, the absence of official recognition made it challenging to receive the same opportunities, support and resources as our male counterparts,” said Couillard. “Now, with girls wrestling being recognized by the PIAA, we finally have the chance to showcase our skills. It provides us with a bigger platform to demonstrate our strength, resilience and determination.”
“Wrestling now as a varsity sport means to me that I can finally be recognized for my talents and be taken seriously as a female athlete,” said Dias. “Even though the state has sanctioned the sport, I will continue to work hard and fight to earn my place.”
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Couillard started as the first female on the girls team and was proud to guide and empower the new set of girls for the 2022-2023 season. Her goal was to create healthy relationships with the girls and the sport itself.
“I find it highly important to develop a well-balanced relationship with a sport, since many athletes, even myself, struggle with society’s idolized standards,” said Couillard. “Getting to see the joy across their faces after a win to their eagerness to improve, brought a smile to my face each time.”
With any sports season, there are ups and downs to face, and Dias faced an injury early on, breaking her wrist.
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“All wrestling moves involve using your hands and I couldn’t use one of mine,” explained Dias. “It was very frustrating waiting for the bone to heal where I could put pressure on it.”
Dias had to be patient so she wouldn’t do more damage to her injury. She also continued to condition and her efforts paid off.
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“I won regionals and came in third for states,” said Dias. “States was one of my most rewarding experiences in wrestling so far.”
For next season and her senior year, Dias is looking forward to having competitive matches with other girls while also bonding and building lifelong friendships.
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“I would like to thank PIAA for finally giving us girls a chance to compete at the same level as the boys,” said Dias.
Meanwhile, Couillard is graduating this year and is satisfied with how her high school wrestling career is ending. She will attend Rice University in Houston, Texas, this fall, focusing on Pre-med. While she will not continue wrestling, she plans on taking the many applications she learned through growing girls wrestling and applying that towards her path in gynecology, continuing to empower women and overcome stigma.
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Sign-ups for Truman’s varsity girls wrestling team will begin in the fall of 2024 for the winter season. The PIAA will also hold a girls championship in conjunction with the boys championships at the Giant Center in March 2024.
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