Glasgow School Board Adds Girls Wrestling

The Glasgow School Board met for their regular meeting on Oct. 13, and on the agenda was the discussion to add girls wrestling to the Glasgow High School activities. Athletic Director Brenner Flaten outlined the proposal, analysis and a survey taken by middle school and high school girls on their interest in participating in the sport if offered.

In the proposal, Flaten explained adding girls wrestling would not incur any additional expense, except for $250 per year to sponsor the additional sport, which would be paid out of internal funds. There would be no change to the general budget, as no staff would be added, there would be no additional costs associated with travel, the use of busses as well as rooms and meals when traveling. The paid head coach and the two paid assistant coaches for boys wrestling would assume coaching duties for the girls team and both genders would practice together, just like cross country, golf and track and field. Also similar with co-ed sports, both genders would travel together for all tournaments/duals.

He also explained how adding this sport to GHS activities would not constitute an addition of a boys sport due to Title IX proportionality. The high school has far more male athletes year-to-year compared to their female counterparts, and 49 of the 52 schools adding girls wrestling in the state are doing so without having an additional boys sport. Over the past six years, Glasgow High School has averaged 38 more males involved in high school athletics than their female counterparts, and the addition of girls wrestling would help narrow the gap, according to Flaten.

As of the night of the board meeting, multiple schools throughout the state of added the sport. In Class B/C, 29 out of the 49 teams with boys wrestling have now added girls wrestling and 15 out of 24 Eastern B/C/ schools in addition to eight out of the 12 Northern B schools have added the sport.

In order to gauge female Glasgow students’ interest in the program, the entire sixth through 12th grade female student body was surveyed on Sept. 14, which showed 24 girls expressing immediate interest in participating in the sport.

After the presentation, Board Chair Mona Amundson expressed concern in adding the sport to the list of activities stating, “Adding another sport might cost us something later on down the road. That’s my biggest concern.”

Flaten addressed that concern by reiterating there would be no general budget increase but did acknowledge the only increase that might occur in the future would be if the teams got large enough where more hotel rooms would be needed.

After reviewing the information, board member Blaine White made the motion to add girls wrestling to the Glasgow High School activities and board member Angie Page seconded. Board member Ryan Fast also approved the motion, however Amundson opposed. The vote was approved three to one as board member Mike Kaiser was absent.

“We are excited about the addition of girls wrestling as it is a rapidly growing sport in the state of Montana,” Flaten told the Courier.

With the approval of the sport by the School Board, the Glasgow High School Wrestling season for both boys and girls will start Monday, Dec. 7, with the boys and girls practicing together. Girls competition will be held at the same event sites alongside the boys competition with all procedures falling in line with the other individual sports such as cross country, track and field and golf.

The addition also provides the ability to offer the sport at the middle school level. A meeting for those interested will be held at the middle school on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 11:45 a.m. and practice will start Monday, Oct. 26, at 3:45 p.m.

In addition to approving girls wrestling to Glasgow High School activities, the School Board also approved to amend the wrestling cooperative agreement for Glasgow-Nashua to include Hinsdale due to interest at Hinsdale’s middle school for the 2020-21 through the 2022-23 school years.