High school girls in Maine have been allowed to wrestle against their male counterparts since 1996, when Lisa Nowak went before the Maine Human Rights Commission and won the right to take on the boys. Since Nowak, many girls--almost 100 in the state this year--have decided to try out for their high school teams.

Arvid Cullenberg, a health and physical education teacher at Mount Blue High School in Farmington, took girls' wrestling one step further on Feb. 20 by organizing the first annual Maine High School Girls Wrestling Invitational. "Over the course of the past 10 or 15 years, girls' wrestling has continued to grow every year, not just in numbers, but in talent as well," says Cullenberg, who has been involved with the sport for over 35 years. "It seemed like there was enough interest, so I figured it was time for them to have a chance to compete against each other."

Fifty-two girls from 31 schools competed in 108 matches during the tournament. "There were quite a few pins, but the quality of wrestling was good enough that a lot of the matches were wrestled all the way out," he says. "It was exhausting, but well worth it. So many people had positive things to say about the event."

The Maine Principals' Association (MPA), which oversees high school athletics in the state, has so far decided not to sponsor a girls-only state title, and its only instruction to Cullenberg was to not call the tournament a state championship. "But everyone else is calling it the girls' state championship anyway," Cullenberg says. "I've talked to several coaches who say they know of other girls that will come out for their teams next year because now they will have a girls' tournament to participate in.

"If we have at least 70 sign up next year," Cullenberg continues, "I think the MPA will definitely be getting some petitions to make it an official state tournament."