The Ohio High School Athletic Association has announced that its inaugural girls wrestling state tournament in March 2023 will be held alongside the three divisions of the boys wrestling state tournament at the Schottenstein Center at The Ohio State University.

The state tournament schedule will remain a three-day, five-session event, held Friday through Sunday, March 10-12, 2023, and it will continue to be a double-elimination tournament for the boys and girls. The OHSAA is determining where adjustments need to be made to the time schedule and other aspects of the state tournament, which averages more than 50,000 fans for the weekend event.

“We are very excited for the girls to wrestle in the same environment at the Schottenstein Center that the boys do,” said Doug Ute, OHSAA executive director. “We have been working through the logistics of having both state tournaments held alongside each other at the Schott and we are pleased that it can be done. The excitement and energy will be incredible.”

The Ohio High School Wrestling Coaches Association has conducted the girls wrestling state tournament since 2020 at Hilliard Davidson High School. In January 2022, the OHSAA announced that girls wrestling and boys volleyball would be added as sanctioned sports beginning with the 2022-23 school year.

The week before the state tournament, the girls wrestling regional tournaments will be held on the same weekend as the boys district tournaments, but could occur on a Sunday to allow coaches who coach both teams to be with their teams that weekend. A total of 224 girls will qualify for the state tournament, with 16 wrestlers in each of the 14 weight classes.

The Schottenstein Center has hosted the OHSAA wrestling state tournament since 1999 except for 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More details for the wrestling state tournaments will be finalized and communicated in the coming months.

Tim Stried is the director of media relations for the Ohio High School Athletic Association.