High school · Virginia
Virginia high school girls' wrestling
VHSL has crowned girls' state champions in Virginia since 2026. 1,359 girls wrestled here in 2025-26, at 207 schools.
By Joe Spisak, Pennsylvania state champion and 4x NCAA qualifier at Virginia · Published September 3, 2026
The association
Sanctioned
- Association
- VHSL
- Girls' championship
- Yes, first held in 2026
- Format
- A separate girls' championship, its own event
- Source
- vhsl.org, read 2026-09-03
What the record shows
The first VHSL Girls Wrestling State Championship was held February 25, 2026 at the Henrico Sports and Events Center, run as a single open all class field that the VHSL's own brackets page labels the Girls Open State Championships. Virginia splits girls into class championships for the first time in 2026-27, Class 1 through 4 at Salem and Class 5 and 6 at Virginia Beach. The weight set is handbook rule 88-4-2 (1), with a one pound growth allowance on December 24 and a second on January 24. Weight classes re-read 2026-09-20: The VHSL wrestling page names a 2026-27 Class 1-6 Girls State Wrestling Information document but the link did not render, and the 2026-27 Handbook PDF is not exposed on the handbook page. The 2026 girls weights come from the bracket the VHSL page links on Flo, secondary evidence only. Girls state is February 19 to 20, 2027 in two class groups. Weight classes re-read 2026-09-22: the 2026-27 VHSL Handbook and Policy Manual, a Google Drive PDF linked as "2026-27 VHSL Handbook" from vhsl.org/about/handbook/, says in rule 88-4-2 (1): "Weight Classes for Girls-Weight classes shall be 100, 107, 114, 120, 126, 132, 138, 145, 152, 165, 185 and 235." That is the NFHS 12 class set, unchanged, and now from a VHSL document rather than the Flo bracket.
The 2026-27 Virginia championship carries the dates, the venue, and the qualifying path.
How many girls wrestle in Virginia
The NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, girls' wrestling column. Every number here is the survey's own; nothing is estimated or carried forward.
That is 446 more girls than 2024-25, up 48.8 percent.
Weight classes
VHSL uses the NFHS 12 class girls' set for 2026-27. The NFHS offers three, and a state association picks one and cannot switch mid-season.
- 100
- 107
- 114
- 120
- 126
- 132
- 138
- 145
- 152
- 165
- 185
- 235
Scratch weights, in pounds. The NFHS book lets 2 pounds be added to each class after certification as a growth allowance (4-4-4), and the VHSL decides whether and when it applies, so a bracket later in the season may read 2 pounds higher than this. Read off drive.google.com on 2026-09-22. The weight classes page puts this beside the NCAA, NAIA and international weights.
Growth allowance
The NFHS book says a growth allowance of 2 pounds "may be added to each weight class any time after the date of certification" (4-4-4). The VHSL decides whether and when it applies.
“All wrestlers will receive a one-pound growth allowance on December 24 when WCP testing is completed on or before December 8 with the exception of wrestlers participating in fall season playoffs as outlined in Section 88. All wrestlers will receive an additional one-pound growth allowance on January 24 when WCP testing is completed on or before January 8 for a two-pound total allowance.”
From drive.google.com, the 2026-27 document, read 2026-09-29.
Consecutive-day allowance
On consecutive days of team competition, the NFHS book grants every wrestler 1 pound a day, up to 2 pounds, when the opponent has been given at least 48 hours' notice (4-5-5). The VHSL decides whether and when it applies and can add conditions of its own; what its documents say is below.
We have not yet read the VHSL weigh-in rules. Ask your coach for the season bulletin.
If she weighs in above her plan
We have not yet read the VHSL weigh-in rules. Ask your coach for the season bulletin.
What to do if your school has no girls' team
VHSL publishes a rule for this. A girl whose school has no girls program wrestles on her school's boys team, and before the region tournament starts she must choose whether she is competing in the boys or the girls region and state series.
From vhsl.org, read 2026-09-03. The rule is the association's to change; the link goes to the page that will carry the change.
The general path, in the order that works: ask the athletic director first, in writing, whether the school will enter you and under what rule. Most schools have never been asked, and the answer to a written question goes on the record in a way a hallway conversation does not. If the school will not enter you, ask VHSL directly what a student in your position may do; associations answer these, and the answer is the one that binds your school.
Train while you sort it out. A club room is where most girls in a state without a school team actually wrestle, and club season runs when the school season does not. The clubs in Virginia are listed by city, with the girls' rooms and girls' practices flagged where the club says so.
Where it goes next
The state final is not the end of the line. These are the two places a Virginia wrestler goes from here.
College in the state
5 colleges here sponsor women's wrestling, from the directory built off each school's own athletics staff page.
- Emory & HenryNCAA D2
- FerrumNCAA D2
- MarymountNCAA D3
- RandolphNCAA D3
- Southern VirginiaNCAA D3
Wrestlers from Virginia
One woman in the record we keep grew up here. Their careers started in a room like the one down the road.
Before the season starts
A girl's legal minimum wrestling weight is built on the 19 percent body fat floor the NFHS sets for girls, not the boys' 7 percent. That is roughly sixteen pounds of difference for a fifteen year old, and every app built on the boys' number gets it wrong. How making weight works covers certification and what your state enforces at the scale, and when wrestling season starts has the year month by month and the first practice dates we have read off the associations' own pages.
This page was read on 2026-09-03, off VHSL's own pages and the NFHS participation survey, and parts of it were re-read since, most recently on 2026-09-29. Associations change rules in the spring and post the new ones late; the links here go to the page that will carry the change first.
Cite this data
Checked
Women's Wrestling Club, "Virginia girls HS wrestling", https://womenswrestlingclub.com/high-school/va, checked 2026-09-29.
Linking to it? The HTML:
<a href="https://womenswrestlingclub.com/high-school/va">Virginia girls HS wrestling</a>The newsletter
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