Southern Door High School is showcasing one of the fastest-growing sports in the country on Friday when it hosts its first girls' wrestling tournament.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, girls' wrestling saw a massive 55-percent increase from 2021-22 – to reach a record total of 49,127. Ten years ago, fewer than 10,000 girls were in high school wrestling. Wisconsin last year became one of 36 states in the country to have a separate state tournament. Among the qualifiers for the history-making event were Southern Door's Nora LeFevre and Hailey Veeser. Along with Sydney Turner, head coach Jerry Englebert credits them with helping the sport grow to a point where they could participate in an all-girls dual meet earlier this week. Englebert says he has long advocated for girls' wrestling and believes the all-girls option allows the sport to flourish even more.

Amherst, Appleton West, Crandon, Luxemburg-Casco, Bay Port, Brillion, Chilton, Florence, Mishicot, Oregon, Oshkosh West, Peshtigo, Plymouth, Stratford, Sturgeon Bay/Sevastopol, Tomahawk, Two Rivers, Wrightstown, and Wausau West are among the schools scheduled to attend the tournament, which will be set up as a four-wrestler round-robin. Weigh-ins are at 4 p.m., with the first matches starting at 5 p.m.