School board gives thumbs up to girls’ wrestling program

TOMAHAWK – Starting next school year, the School District of Tomahawk will offer a girls’ wrestling program.

The district’s Board of Education last week gave the official thumbs up to a proposal from Athletic Director Ryan Flynn seeking funding to support a girls’ wrestling program.

Flynn’s proposal

According to Flynn’s proposal, the cost to launch the program well be around $12,000.00 “on the high end,” with additional financial support coming from team fundraising and local booster clubs, such as the Hatchet Booster Club and the Tomahawk Wrestling Alumni Association.

Flynn noted that costs are likely to decrease after the initial season “due to the growth statewide in girls’ wrestling and our area becoming smaller for scheduling full-team dual meets with opposing schools.”

During the board’s meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 14, Flynn said girls’ wrestling is “blowing up” in Wisconsin.

“(In) every corner of the state, it’s popping up everywhere,” he stated.

Flynn explained that two years ago, there were about 600 female high school wrestlers affiliated individually with the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA). As of last year’s first-ever girls’ State wrestling tournament, held in conjunction with the boys’ tournament, about 1,500 girls were taking part in the sport in Wisconsin.

In Tomahawk, the number of girls competing in wrestling increased from just fewer than 20 last year to 32 at the start of this season. There are currently 28 girls on the team, with two now serving as managers and two others realizing that the sport isn’t for them, Flynn noted.

Flynn said the number of boys out for wrestling has also gone up this year, attributing the overall increase in participation to “talk of the program” and students believing “(the program) is the place to be.”

On average in recent years, the team was made up of about 20 boys. Roughly 30 boys are wrestling this year, according to Flynn.

In all, Tomahawk’s wrestling program has about 60 athletes.

Under WIAA rules, school districts have until Thursday, Feb. 1 to declare their intention to offer a standalone girls’ wrestling program next year. Beginning with next school year, girls taking part in standalone girls’ programs may only compete against other girls.

“If we don’t declare as a girls’ program, they can still wrestle on the boys’ side, but they’re no longer allowed to enter the WIAA tournament on the girls’ side next year,” Flynn explained to the board. “The WIAA is really trying to force schools’ hands to have a girls’ wrestling program so they can continue to grow the sport.”

Coaching staff

Flynn told the Tomahawk Leader that the coaching structure for the Hatchet wrestling program will mirror that of cross country and track, with the program being co-ed and the boys’ and girls’ teams sharing coaches.

To fill out the wrestling program’s coaching staff, Flynn said the plan is to move one coaching position each from two sports with dwindling participation numbers – girls’ basketball and track – to wrestling. This effort will ensure that coaching positions are allocated evenly by participation numbers while not creating new paid coaching positions.

Wrestling will have one head coach and three paid assistant coaches, as well as volunteers. Flynn said the coaching structure will allow for two paid coaches to travel with each program in the event that competitions are held at separate locations.

“This allows the head coach of the program to send paid assistant coaches where needed at their discretion, or continue to find tournaments at the same location, allowing us to have four paid coaches available at all times to cover the mats and individual wrestling,” Flynn explained in his proposal.

Flynn noted that the coaching staff is another driving factor in the jump in wrestling numbers this year.

Head wrestling coach Bob Garrou also coaches middle school track and helps out in the weight room, where he’s developed relationships with the athletes, leading them to give wrestling a shot.

Garrou told the Tomahawk Leader that the Hatchet girls are “very excited” to take part in an “aggressive, tough sport,” noting that they’re picking up on the ins and outs of wrestling quickly.

“The girls never shy from tough competition,” Garrou added.

Also on the coaching staff this year is Alyssa Lampe, one of Tomahawk’s most decorated athletes who forever changed the face of wrestling in the Badger State. 

As a sophomore at Tomahawk High School in 2004, Lampe became the first female wrestler in Wisconsin history to qualify for the WIAA Division 2 State Championship. Lampe wrestled at State three times as a Hatchet, placing second in Division 2 as a senior in 2006.

She also earned 12 letters in three sports, competed at State nine times and was named the Lumberjack Conference Runner of the Year in 2004.

Lampe continued to wrestle after high school and was the U.S. Open individual champion in 2010, 2013, 2014 and 2019. In 2012 and 2013, she was a bronze medalist in international competition.

In 2013, Lampe was chosen by her peers and coaches as USA Wrestling’s Women’s Wrestler of the Year. She was also selected as the U.S. Open’s Outstanding Wrestler that year.

Lampe retired from wrestling in 2015, but decided to make a return in 2019. She went on to win nationals and was named the U.S. Open’s Outstanding Wrestler for the second time.

Also in 2019, Lampe was inducted into the George Martin Wrestling Hall of Fame – the first woman to receive the honor.

This year’s staff is rounded out by experienced and knowledgeable coaches in John Arnott, Nate Mickelson and Sara Kuba, which, as Garrou put it, “doesn’t hurt.”

Potential opponents

Although nothing is official at this time, Flynn pointed to Lakeland, Merrill and Wausau West as potential schools for the Tomahawk girls to compete against due to their participation numbers.

“As this develops, I can see the Great Northern Conference (GNC) combining with the Wisconsin Valley Conference or another conference in the area to form a Girls’ Wrestling Conference to promote individual conference and team honors,” Flynn stated.

Over the last two years, Flynn noted, Tomahawk has traveled heavily to the west side of the state due to Eau Claire North, St. Croix Falls and Cameron having good participation numbers and full lineups. 

Flynn hopes the team can stay local as much as possible while also competing in the traditional Holiday Tournament and a large in-season tournament to allow the Tomahawk athletes to face their Sectional opponents prior to the WIAA tournament.

“(Girls’ wrestling) is growing so rapidly that it will be a year-by-year approach to find tournaments where our girls can get four to five matches consistently, and as schools promote and grow the sport, we will continue to work on scheduling to make sure our girls are getting minimal 30 to 40 matches a season, similar to our boys,” Flynn stated.

‘The sky’s the limit’

Looking forward, Garrou sees promise in Tomahawk’s girls’ wresting program.

“I feel the sky’s the limit for where the girls in Tomahawk can end up,” he said.