The Coal Cracker is an event that embodies wrestling.

A two-day tournament that draws teams from across Pennsylvania, producing a level of competition often seen in the postseason.

This year was no different, with over 40 teams and over 700 wrestlers packing Lehighton’s Elementary Center and High School gymnasiums for one of the biggest weekends of the year.

What was new this season was a separate girls tournament that took place Jan. 22.

It was a moment that showcased the continued growth and interest in girls wrestling, and a chance those competing were grateful for.

“I think it was a great experience because it gave me a chance to wrestle around with girls and kind of have an equal amount of partnership with girls that are coming out and working just as hard as me,” said Northwestern junior Josie Wehr. “It’s just a great opportunity to see girls out (for the sport).”

Wehr pinned Navaeh Fegley (Selinsgrove) in 4:48 for third place at 113 pounds. After losing her first match, Wehr had two pins on her way to another fall in the third-place match.

Wehr wrestled two matches in the varsity tournament on Friday before competing in the girls event Saturday.

“I think it does give me some confidence there, just knowing that when I enter these girls tournaments I do have a chance,” said Wehr. “And just knowing that winning feels really good, and it gives me the confidence boost that I need at these tournaments and it makes me want to compete harder and harder, and it really helps.”

They were the first matches against other girls this season for Wehr, who is a fixture in the Tigers’ varsity lineup.

“Josie’s great,” said Northwestern head coach Jim Moll. “She works hard, she’s coachable, she asks questions, and she’s passionate. She’s a true competitor, and you see it in her face when she comes off the mat. Even if it’s a match where she out-wrestles some guys but she just gets outmuscled sometimes, she takes it to heart. And I love seeing it. I love seeing that look on her face, and in her eyes, of how much she wants to win. She definitely has a passion, and she has a toughness that’s needed to do good in the sport.

“We have others girls competitions that we want to get her into, and I’m excited to see her compete there.”

There has been a groundswell of support for girls wrestling, with SanctionPA advocating such efforts.

SanctionPA is a grassroots effort to work toward getting high school girls wrestling approved as a sanctioned sport in Pennsylvania through cooperation with schools and The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. The SanctionPA campaign includes advocacy efforts, education resources, promotional materials, and collaboration with schools. The goal is for 100 PIAA member schools to officially recognize and approve a girls wrestling program at the high school level and ultimately have the sport sanctioned at the state level.

Having a separate girls tournament as part of the Coal Cracker was discussed before last year’s tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The girls tournament started at 9 a.m. Saturday, an hour before the boys began and used six mats at the elementary center. The girls were the only ones wrestling during that time before switching over to two mats at the elementary center.

Parkland and Easton high schools both have sanctioned girls teams and competed at the tournament over the weekend.

Pennsylvania high school wrestling has experienced over a 200 percent growth of girls on high school boys teams in the past several years.

The majority of states have sanctioned girls wrestling at the championship level, and more states are adding to that number every year. There were over 32,000 high school girls competing in the US in 2020-2021.

In Pennsylvania, all 12 PIAA district areas have girls wrestling within their area schools.

Wehr comes from a family of wrestlers. Her brother, Baily, was a state qualifier as a senior in 2017, a year he also reached district and regional finals.

“That was a big part of why I started wrestling,” Wehr said. “I would always just casually wrestle around with my brother all the time at home, and my dad here and there. I was a manager for one year in middle school, and my mom just said, ‘Why don’t you try?’

“She signed me up and from there it just kind of started, and I just kept coming out for it.”

In the fall, Wehr competes in field hockey. In spring, she participates in softball.

“I don’t think I really have a favorite as of right now,” Wehr said. “When I’m in the season, I just focus on that particular sport, and it’s just my sport in that time. They’re all really my favorite, and I just love being able to compete.”

In addition to Wehr, sophomore Katie Brensinger also competes for the Tigers.

“We’re going to work this offseason to try to get more girls out,” said Moll. “It’s important to have our number of girls grow in our program, because it provides more momentum, and it provides more workout partners for Josie and Katie.

“And Katie is the same as Josie. She is always really excited to get out there.”

At the Coal Cracker, there were 752 wrestlers, with 453 being varsity, 237 JV and 62 girls.

Katie’s brother, Mason, placed seventh at the event at 160 pounds for the Tigers. Katie’s father also wrestled for Northwestern.

The girls competed across nine weight classes.

Northwestern is scheduled to wrestle at Easton for a girls tournament on Feb. 5, followed by an all-girls event at North Penn on Feb. 12.

There is also a girls regional tournament set for March 6 at Parkland, and March 13 Central Dauphin is hosting the girls state tournament.

“I think that I’m really looking forward to it because it’s a great opportunity for me to place in some tournaments and to show people that I can do really good and wrestle really well,” Wehr said. “And it just gives me a chance to actually show what my real potential is.”

Wehr hopes the opportunities continue well into the future.

“I guess I kind of hope that we get a team soon, and that most of the girls see how well we do in these girls tournaments, and by next year, hopefully we’ll get a couple of girls out,” said Wehr. “And I know in the youth program, there’s a couple of girls, and I really hope that they stick with it throughout the years, and they’ll come out during middle school and we’ll be able to get a girls team for middle school and high school.”