By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
After a second-place finish at the first ever girls wrestling state tournament this past February, Great Bend High School got off to a good start in a growing sport throughout Kansas. The USD 428 Board of Education felt it only made sense to extend the sport to the middle school.
The school board voted 7-0 to offer girls wrestling to 7th and 8th grade students next year at Great Bend Middle School.
USD 428 Superintendent Khris Thexton says the program will continue to grow.
"I think with the growth in the program, extending it to the middle school gives our kids an opportunity and our program a chance to get better," said Thexton.
Currently, the middle school only offered wrestling to girls in conjunction with boys wrestling and at the same time as girls basketball. The approved girls wrestling season would occur from January to March and girls basketball would take place from October to December, in hopes of not deterring girl athletes wanting to participate in both sports.
"When the girls have basketball, the boys wrestle," Thexton said. "We will do that opposite now so when the boys have basketball, the girls will have wrestling. There will not be any overlap in the wrestling room."
The cost of adding girls wrestling at GBMS would include: coaches, transportation and wrestling hair caps.
The high school team had more than 30 girl wrestlers compete in first year of Kansas State High School Activities Association sanctioned competition. Thexton noted a survey sent out to middle school students show that similar numbers are expected for GBMS turnout next year.