Hands Raised reference
Girls wrestling statistics.
High school and college participation figures for the fastest-growing side of wrestling, with a source and reporting year for every number.
Last updated August 10, 2026
The big picture
More athletes are finding the mat.
Girls wrestling is no longer a side note. Participation has reached a record high in U.S. high schools, while college programs are adding athletes at a rapid pace. The numbers below give coaches, families, writers and supporters a reliable starting point for understanding that change.
Each figure links to the organization that reported it, so the page can be checked, quoted and cited with confidence.
2024-25 at a glance
The numbers.
74,064
girls wrestled in U.S. high school programs
The 2024-25 school year marked the highest reported girls wrestling participation in the NFHS survey.
NFHS High School Participation Survey, 2024-2519.8%
of high school wrestlers were girls
This calculation uses the NFHS total of 374,278 high school wrestlers and 74,064 girls who participated in 2024-25.
Calculated from the NFHS High School Participation Survey, 2024-25374,278
students wrestled in U.S. high school programs
That total includes boys and girls participation reported by state high school associations for 2024-25.
NFHS High School Participation Survey, 2024-251,738
women wrestled in NCAA programs
The NCAA reported this participation figure for the 2024-25 school year.
NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report, 2024-2542%
year-over-year growth in NCAA women’s wrestling participation
The NCAA reported 512 more women wrestling in 2024-25 than the prior school year.
NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Report, 2024-25What the numbers show
The next generation is already here.
Nearly one in five high school wrestlers in the 2024-25 survey was a girl. That is a meaningful shift in the rooms, tournaments and communities built around the sport.
College participation is moving too. The NCAA’s reported 42% year-over-year increase shows that more women are finding opportunities to keep competing after high school. The details will keep changing, but the direction is clear: girls wrestling is gaining ground at every level.
Shop the headwearSources and methodology
Built to be checked.
This page uses the most recent publicly available participation figures from the National Federation of State High School Associations and the NCAA. The reporting year appears with every statistic. The percentage of high school wrestlers who were girls is calculated from the NFHS totals shown above and is labeled as a calculation.
- National Federation of State High School Associations, High School Participation Survey Archive, 2024-25 data.
- NCAA, Probability of Competing Beyond High School, 2024-25 participation data.
Cite this page
Hands Raised Co. “Girls Wrestling Statistics.” Updated August 10, 2026. https://handsraised.co/girls-wrestling-statistics