150 take part in competition

High school girls wrestling continues to grow by leaps and bounds.

That was evident at a “jamboree” competition hosted by West Milford High School on Sunday, Jan. 26.

“Our coaching staff came up with the idea last spring,’’ head coach Taylor Pevny said. “We decided that the sport is growing super-fast and it would be a fun opportunity for our girls to have their own home event.

“It had a huge response where at one point I had to close registration or it would just keep growing.”

Girls joined the Highlanders wrestling team for the first time last year, he said.

“(We) really had to learn the ropes as it operates slightly differently than the boys program. Once we had an understanding of how everything worked, then we knew we would be able to get our girls program off the ground and running. What a better way to start that by hosting a large-scale jamboree.’’

About 150 girls from throughout North Jersey took part in the jamboree. Each girl wrestled in two matches.

“I hope they use our event to see how popular girls wrestling is becoming, and it helps spread the word to get more and more girls out and participating in the sport,’’ Pevny said.

Fellow coaches who attended gave him useful feedback.

“Coaches complimented our school district, athletic department and our wrestling program for putting this event together,’’ he said. “They commended our district for being willing to host such a large event. Opposing teams and coaches were shocked at how smooth and successful the event went.

“We are very grateful to have a supporting school district, administration and athletic department.”

Pevny expects to host a similar competition next year.

“It shows that the girls side of the sport can be just as big and popular in the state as any other sport.’’

West Milford wrestlers Jackie Sloan, Maddie Hammett, Taylor Keegan and Ariana Canipe “have made a lot of progress and have expressed their desire to have a full girls team in the near future,” the coach said.

In matches through Jan. 30, Sloan’s record was 15-5, Keegan’s was 12-4, Hammett’s was 8-5 and Canipe’s was 6-6.