Mike Hansen sits before the Regional School Unit 9 Board of Directors on Tuesday, Feb. 14, to request the formation of a varsity team for the girl’s wrestling program at Mt. Blue. Brian Ponce/Franklin Journal
FARMINGTON — Mt. Blue Middle School and High School wrestling coach Michael Hansen appeared before the Regional School Unit 9 [RSU 9] Board of Director’s meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 14, to showcase the strides of girl’s wrestling in the school district as well as make a proposition to the board to create a varsity team for girl’s wrestling.
“Women’s wrestling is currently one of the fastest growing sports in the nation,” Hansen stated. “It’s meteoric rise over the past few years has been like no other. Young ladies across the nation have been able to compete on a fair playing field against other female athletes to test their skills and compete further their growth in education.”
According to Hansen, with the rise of women’s wrestling, school districts across the nation have begun sanctioning girl’s wrestling, with Maine joining that movement in 2019 with the sponsorship of a separate girls’ high school wrestling championship, which was held at Penobscot Valley High in Howland.
In the 2017-18 season, there were only six high school state associations to officially sanction high school championships for girls. The first states to do this were Hawaii [1998] and Texas (1999), followed by Washington [2007], California [2011], Alaska [2014] and Tennessee [2015].
Until this separate championship was created, girls were forced to wrestle their male counterparts, which Hansen saw as unfair.
“They’ve been forced to compete against the boys in a very physically demanding sport,” he stated. “Sadly, often this leads to injuries and no varsity opportunities for them.”
Hansen wants to see this change, and he approached the board with a simple request.
“We’re not here to ask the board for a new team, or a new score or a new budget,” he said. “We ask for recognition for these girls as varsity athletes, [and] a varsity squad here at Mt. Blue on their existing wrestling team.
“We asked the board,” he continued, “to join us in this journey and blazing a trail for young women across the country and state and vote to acknowledge the Mt. Blue girls’ first ever varsity wrestling team, so that these girls have a chance to earn their varsity status, the varsity letters and pins as the boys would and the opportunities that come with them, which would include college scholarships.”
The board was enthusiastic, with several members speaking in support of the proposition.
“This is exactly what we need,” Director Richard Ruhlin of Industry stated. “I do think we need follow up process and protocol to make sure that we’ve got everything buttoned up behind the scenes. But I agree with my colleague, this is very exciting to hear.”
Superintendent Christian Elkington added, “I’m not trying to be a stick in the mud here. I just want us to follow a process.”
Hansen ended his presentation by sharing a brief story of how joining the girls’ wrestling team made a difference in one girl’s life.
“We had one girl in particular; she was homeschooled, and she would look at nobody. But now this girl smiles and you see the joy. And I mean, she didn’t dare walk the hallways. She’s in public school. She’s out there.”
The Girls’ State Championship in Wrestling will be held next Tuesday, Feb. 21, at Wells High School with Mt. Blue’s team in attendance. Those interested in attending can purchase tickets at gofan.co/app/school/MPA or contact Wells High School Athletics Director Jodie Lawlor at [207] 641-6955.
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