Alabama Girls’ AHSAA Wrestling progressed to “emerging status” for the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons. “Emerging Status” is an official term used across the country that designates a sport growing towards sanctioning. Alabama high school girls’ wrestling teams must show significant growth in participation and matches after the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons to be considered for sanctioning.
The numbers below reflect data on Track Wrestling, the official website for Alabama High School Girls Wrestling results.
Numbers were compiled using Track Wrestling’s itemizing function per grade, team, and weight class from November 2022- December 28, 2022. The match count was compiled using the data per roster. Not all coaches have clicked “update selected records,” which has incomplete data. Where applicable, data was pulled from individual team rosters under the matches tab to compensate for incomplete data.
With only a few weeks left before Girls’ State January 19-20, 2023, coaches will begin to update their teams’ Track Wrestling records necessary for tournament seeding. More complete data will be available when the coaches update their Track Wrestling. The end-of-the-season data will be compiled following the same process used for this report.
2022-23 Girls’ Data as of December 28, 2022
Girls’ Wrestling has shown tremendous growth over the past two seasons. The current season data stated that 424 girls had taken the Encore Hydration test. More girls may take the test before Girls’ State rosters are due. In 2021, 252 girls were tested compared to 132 girls in 2020.
Total hydration tests grew by 41 percent compared to 2021. Compared to 2020, hydration tests increased by 69 percent. 2022-23 is the first season for the girls vs. girls competition with a separate girls’ roster. The previous seasons included girls vs. boys, and girls’ wrestlers were listed on the boys’ roster.
The active participation number subtracts girls who have not wrestled at least one match at the time of data collection. 355 girls have wrestled at least one match, and 69 girls have not yet wrestled a match this season. 84 percent of the girls who took a hydration test have wrestled at least one match this season. 71 teams of 75 that had girls take hydration tests have participated in at least one match. 77 girls have already wrestled more than 15 matches, with over 180 girls wrestling between 7-15 matches. 37 girls have more than 20 matches.
2021-2022 Season Numbers
Compared to 2021-22, active competitors increased by over 147. Also, the number of girls that wrestled more than 15 matches has already increased by 50, with three weeks left in the season. 2021-22 also featured 11 new wrestlers that just wrestled at the girls’ state tournament that did not participate during the season. Some girls who have not wrestled yet in the 2022-23 season may likely wrestle their first match at Girls’ State. The December 28, 2022, data showed that girls wrestled throughout November and December, increasing their total matches count via participation in dual matches and tournaments.
2020-2021 Season Numbers
Compared to 2020-21 numbers, the 2022-23 December data showed that hydration test totals and participation have more than tripled from two seasons ago. Girls with more than 15 matches have quadrupled compared to the 2020-21 numbers. The 2022-23 total match number will also increase because three weeks remain in the 2022-23 season.
The data also reflected that the 2022-23 numbers featured girls wrestling only girls on the girls’ roster. The 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons featured girls on the boys’ rosters with the ability to cross over and wrestle boys. Compared to the past years where girls could wrestle boys, the 2022-23 numbers showed that girls’ total participation and match count increased with girls wrestling girls on the girls’ roster.
For 2022-23, the Girls’ Weight classes include over 26 participants in each weight class. The strongest participation is in the 120lb division with 49 competitors and the 235lb division with 48 competitors. The lowest participation is 138 lbs, with only 26 competitors. These weight class participations are subject to change with Holiday Weight which adds plus 2 lbs to each weight class. For example, 100lbs becomes 102lbs. With the addition of holiday weight, many competitors may shift weight classes. There are also competitors with weight classes not listed.
2022-2023 Weight Class Participants
There are 58 girls from 7th Grade, 75 from 8th Grade, 100 girls from 9th grade, 85 girls from 10th grade, 56 girls from 11th grade, and 47 girls from 12th grade, with three uncategorized.
As Alabama Girls Wrestling moves towards Girls’ State, teams are encouraged to schedule as many matches as possible for their girls. These matches can come from duals, tri’s, quads, and tournaments. Coaches are encouraged to update their Track Wrestling data, update records, and prepare for the seeding process outlined by Girls’ State at Thompson on January 19, with the finals on January 20 at the Birmingham Crossplex.
In 2021-2022, 45 teams participated in the girls’ state tournament.
Below is a list of all teams participating in 2022-23, how many girls took the hydration test per team, and how many girls per team have at least one recorded match in Track Wrestling. Another report will be run after the Girls’ State tournament to show how many teams participated, the number of girls each team brought to the tournament and the total tournament participation numbers. Complete season reports will also be run and posted after the season.
Additional numbers Update December 29, 2022
75 Girls’ Teams Participated in the Hydration Test
73 Girls’ Teams recorded a minimum of 1 individual match to be included in the Data
355 Total Girls Participating as of December 28, 2022
424 Girls Received Hydration Tests from Encore
