The first ever girls MIAA sanctioned All-State wrestling tournament takes place at St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers on Saturday morning.
According to Mahar Regional wrestling coach John Speek, an estimated 70 girls from all over Massachusetts will participate in the inaugural tournament.
“The participation level needs to be at a certain level to be viable financially,” Speek said. “They also didn’t have the numbers yet to make a tournament mean something.”
The tournament will coincide with the boys All-State tournament happening at the same location.
“If we can bring medals back I hope it increases interest,” Speek said. “If you see a girl winning a state championship maybe someone will think ‘I can do that too’. I am hoping for a bump next year. It tells girls it’s possible.”
First round matches begin at 9 a.m. with championship matches occuring in the afternoon.
The process for seeding will be similar to the boy’s tournaments with coaches meeting in the morning to discuss where wrestlers should go in their respective brackets.
14 states have girls tournaments for wrestling, according to Speek.
“We will hammer it out in the morning,” Speek said. “They have a rough outline but we will fight it out.”
Mahar’s Carolyn Gilmore figures to be a high-seed for the Senators. Club tournaments factor into the seeding decisons.
Gilmore has won several club tournaments for the Senators but this is different.
“Club tournaments are fun,” Gilmore “But if you win a club tournament it has no affect on your high school career and little to no affect on your college career. It’s almost like practice. This is an all state tournament.”
The weight-classes are not the same as the boys tournaments.
“They can’t be more than 10 percent of their body weight away from each other,” Speek said. “You get girls together in clusters.”
Gilmore figures to be familiar with her competition. But a potential mystery opponent could be out there.
“I think have exposed myself to most of the girls at the tournament,” Gilmore said. “There is always that hypothetical girl that I have never met who is way better than me. But I think I have pretty much seen everybody.”
Five years of wrestling for the Mahar program has culminated in Gilmore’s first opportunity to wrestle for a MIAA sanctioned championship
“I am little nervous,” Gilmore said. “Everyone wants me to do well. There are a lot of expectations. There are a lot of people assuming that I will win it. But I feel blessed to have the opportunity. It feels right.”
Even with the nerves, Gilmore is confident heading into her chance to make history and become the first-ever female state champion in her weight class for the Mahar wrestling program.
“I feel capable,” Gilmore said. “I am confident in my training. I have put a lot of time and effort in outside of just wrestling as far as diet and other training. I am confident in my preparation.”
The tournament format is in bracket form. Most girls wrestling events are round-robins.
“She is excited,” Speek said. “She was jumping around. She wants that legitmatct and she did it the right way, the official way. But it’s a lot more pressure. If you lose once you are not getting first.”
Anya Roberts, Ava Chiodo and Brooke Voudren will also wrestle at the tournament for the Senators.
“We are hoping to build a tradition,” Speek said.
