Wyoming Area High School
Times Leader File Photo
EXETER — Parents at Tuesday’s Wyoming Area School Board work session urged the board to consider the creation of a girls’ wrestling team at the high school level, which they said would provide equal opportunities for female athletes as interest in the sport continues to surge nationwide.
West Pittston resident Tiffany Bonning, whose daughter is currently on the school’s wrestling team, spoke passionately about having a separate girls’ team, which she said would improve safety in competition and enhance the overall athletic culture of the school.
“While some may argue that co-ed wrestling in inclusive, in reality, it places both male and female athletes at a disadvantage for reasons rooted in biology, safety, psychology and fairness,” she told the board.
Furthermore, Bonning said students may also feel uncomfortable competing “against the opposite sex in such a close contact sport.”
She also spoke about the possible opportunities a girls’ wrestling team would create for female athletes at the collegiate level.
As the mother of a female wrestler, Bonning said she wanted her daughter to have the same educational opportunities as a male wrestler.
“She deserves an opportunity to have a college scholarship and she’s not going to get that wrestling the boys and she’s going to be disadvantaged. She can’t even wrestle at her full potential,” she said.
Tiffany Bonning’s husband, Todd Bonning, who serves as a coach for the Wyoming Area elementary wrestling team, also spoke in favor of creating a girls’ wrestling team.
“This season we had seven girls sign up for our youth program, as mentioned, and at our junior high and high school levels, there are four female wrestlers and three of them are actively competing and participating in boys’ competitions,” he said.
According to both parents, there are girls’ wrestling teams at several nearby schools including Hanover Area, Greater Nanticoke Area and Wyoming Valley West.
According to the AP in March 2024, girls’ wrestling was the fastest-growing high school sport in the country.
In Pennsylvania in particular, “the number of girl wrestlers in high schools nearly doubled this year as the state rocketed to more than 180 high school teams from none in 2020,” the AP reported.
Superintendent Jon Pollard seemed open to discussing the creation of a girls’ wrestling team and said he would speak with both parents following the meeting about the possibility.
Agenda items
There was little to no discussion at the meeting regarding agenda items.
Of note, the Feb. 25 regular meeting will include the second reading of policy #237 Electronic Devices, which would require secondary students to put their cellphones in locked pouches during the school day.
According to the policy listed online on the school’s website, “the pouch would remain in the student’s possession but be inaccessible during school hours.”
Other items to be voted on at the upcoming regular meeting include:
• The February payment of $82,733.06 to the Luzerne Intermediate Unit in accordance with the terms of the approved contract for special education services and other related services for the 2024-2025 school year.
• Ratification of the February payment of $69,742.73 to the West Side Career & Technology Center for the 2024-2025 school year.
• The appointment of Bob Dellarte, Golden Photo Studio, as official yearbook photography studio for the 2025-2026 school year.
• The appointment of Christianna Masher as long term substitute retroactive to Jan. 28, 2025 through the end of the 2024-2025 school year.
• Two appointments of coaches for the 2024-2025 spring sports season: Nico Sciandra (Jr. High coach) and Lou DeMark (assistant coach) for track and field.
