The Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors announced on Thursday its unanimous vote to add girls wrestling and boys volleyball as emerging sports beginning with the 2022-23 school year.
In addition to the two athletic events, the board voted to move girls and boys lacrosse out of the emerging sports category into the list of OHSAA recognized sports, and also committed to discuss partnering with a group to provide a tournament in Esports (gaming).
“The OHSAA has been talking with the boys volleyball and girls wrestling leaders for several years and we are now in the position to bring these two sports into the OHSAA,” said OHSAA Executive Director Doug Ute. “This move will help those sports continue to grow and allow those student-athletes to compete for an OHSAA state championship. It gives more kids opportunities and that is the mission of the OHSAA.”
Ute also added: “The girls wrestling state tournament is held in mid-February and the boys volleyball state tournament is held in the spring. We have not yet developed tournament regulations, but we’ll start working on that so that those two sports hit the ground running next fall for the start of the 2022-23 school year.”
With the addition of girls wrestling and boys volleyball, the number of OHSAA sports grows to 28, with 14 each for both girls and boys competition.
