Star City, AR (3/31/25) - Star City School District has announced the addition of boys and girls wrestling to its athletic department, beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year. Students in 7th-12th grade will be served by this exciting new program. With this news, Star City will become one of the only schools in southeast Arkansas sponsoring the nation’s fastest growing high school sport.
Star City’s decision to add wrestling was sparked by student interest within the district, a trend being seen around the country. The National Federation of State High School Associations has noted an increase of over 60,000 participants in boys wrestling since 2021-2022. Meanwhile, girls wrestling has seen a growth of 102% in participation nationally in the same time frame. Increased opportunities at the collegiate level acknowledge the rapid growth of the sport, with five universities in the state of Arkansas sponsoring the sport at the NAIA, DIII, DII and DI levels.
Star City’s inaugural wrestling team will begin practice this fall with competition slated to begin in early December. The high school wrestling season in Arkansas concludes with the annual state championship hosted at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in late February. Offseason and summer opportunities will be provided for interested athletes, as well.
SCHS football coach Chris Norton, who has started wrestling at two different schools in the state, will lead the program in 2025-2026. In response to Star City’s addition of the sport, Norton shared “I think any opportunity to increase student involvement is great for our kids, our district and our entire community. I am an advocate for wrestling in our state, understanding the things it can help us teach student-athletes and having seen it’s ability to bring together such an array of young men and women We’ll work as hard as we can to do things right, get kids involved and put a quality product on the mat that matches the expectations our district and community places on athletics”.
An interest meeting will be held for students in grades 7th-12th later this spring. Further plans, schedules and information will be shared at that time.
Link to Press Release: https://5il.co/3c2mx
