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It’s official, girls wrestling will be a high school sport in Montana beginning next school year, the Montana High School Association announced at its annual meeting in Billing early this week.

To offset the addition of a girls sport and to satisfy Title IX regulations, boys powerlifting was also added for the 2020-2021 school year.

As outlined in the proposal, girls wrestling will be a winter sport with the proposed weight classes of 103, 113, 126, 138, 152, 170 and 205. Initially at least there will be no girls divisional tournaments, only a state tournament with one classification, a girls-only event involving all Montana girl prep wrestlers from all the high schools.

Implemented to offset girls wrestling, boys powerlifting will be a spring sport. Powerlifting is already an unsanctioned sport which many Montana schools, including Thompson Falls, are sponsoring.

In other action at the MHSA meeting, the organization voted down a proposal to alter the state volleyball brackets, added penalties for recruiting violations, and will now allow golf coaches to accompany their athletes on course until they reach the green.

A proposal to allow home-schooled students to be eligible for sports at member schools was withdrawn, and a proposal to amend MHSA rules about eighth grade student participation and transfers failed.