As high school girls wrestling gains popularity, changes are sought and will be considered

Girls wrestling is facing growing pains.

In its first few years as a sanctioned sport, girls postseason tournaments have been set up differently than boys tournaments. In boys wrestling, each section tournament includes a single section and sends two wrestlers to state from each weight class. But each girls section tournament combines two sections. The rub comes when the threshold for wrestlers traveling to state doesn't increase — it stays at two per weight, despite two sections competing.

It was created that way because of the smaller number of girls wrestlers in the state, and it still works in certain places in the state. In northern Minnesota, where girls wrestling is popular and sections are packed full, it makes things complicated.

"Is it frustrating when some sections have eight girls and we have 30-some at a weight? Yeah," said Badger/Greenbush-Middle River assistant coach Efrem Novacek, whose girls wrestlers compete in the combined Section 7 and Section 8 tournament for spots at state. "But you come in here to be the state champion, so …"

Sarah Pulk, one of Novacek's wrestlers and the freshly crowned 155-pound state champion, is optimistic that change will come as the sport continues to expand.

"Minnesota definitely needs to open up their brackets for the girls, and I have a feeling it's gonna come sooner rather than later," she said.

She just might be right.

Charlie Campbell, the Minnesota State High School League's associate director, said the MSHSL board will review a proposal next month to move to separate section tournaments for all of girls wrestling. If the board approves the proposal, it would go into effect next season.

"Our board of directors will have the opportunity to get some feedback, look at the data, look at the growth trajectory and make a decision," Campbell said.

Growing the game

When time ran out in her championship match Saturday, Pulk was a state champion once again. With a 13-1 victory at 155 pounds under her belt, the Badger/Greenbush-Middle River sophomore ran to hug her coaches as the crowd raised into cheers.

Pulk is used to all this commotion by now — the victory marked her third state title, and she is ranked sixth nationally at her weight.

Novacek said Pulk has long used that success and recognition to help grow the sport.

"I said, 'You want to be a role model for everybody.' And she has been," Novacek said. "Girls talk to her, she's always talking to everybody. She's always going around, helping other girls."

One girl is particularly important to Sarah — her sister, eighth-grader Madilyn Pulk. For the first time in their careers, both girls made it to the state tournament this year, with Madilyn wrestling in the 142-pound bracket. She lost in the quarterfinals.

"It's so cool," Sarah Pulk said. "Just always having somebody right by my side every single match, and vice versa."

For a moment in the quarterfinals, the two sisters were wrestling on mats right next to each other.

It was a brief moment, given that Sarah ended her match in a brisk 34 seconds with a fall — an indicator of the skill that turned her into a champion just a few hours later.

Capturing the mat moments

Regular state tournament attendees are familiar with the video that plays before the championship matches begin — a multiple-minute montage, with the highs and lows of a weekend of competition flashing across the screen.

Behind that crowd-pleaser is a compact team of five people, working early mornings and late nights to capture the drama of the tournament from the edges of the mats.

"You've got to get the true nature of wrestling," said Isaac Sogbey, one of the camera crew members responsible for shooting and editing the video. "Not everybody's winning, and some people are losing and crying. You've got to get those things as well."

Sogbey got involved with the crew through his brother, who used to be a wrestler at Eastview and is now also involved in the video's creation. Their camera crew is the only media allowed on the mats while competition is active, clearly marked in matching black hoodies.

"It's fun," he said. "People always get excited when they see us shooting. They're always like, 'We can't wait to see the video.' "

This year's iteration rang through a packed Xcel Energy Center before a new slew of Minnesota wrestling royalty was crowned Saturday night, as the crowd waved phone flashlights.