There's something fresh and exciting about anything new. But the most important thing about girls' wrestling is the opportunities it presents to young women.

Warwick High School is in its second season of offering girls' wrestling as a varsity sport. While participation is still very modest and the process of development remains in the infancy stages, the Warriors have already established a solid footing.

"There's always been girls who like to wrestle, but there wasn't anywhere for them to compete," said Warwick head coach Ned Bushong. "Why not wrestle? For a lot of them, it's going to open opportunities for education. Technique-wise, they're as good as the guys. It's a good individual sport. Women can compete in it just the same as men. If they're competing against other women, it's equal."

This year's Warwick girls' wrestling squad consists of four competitors - senior Shannon English, junior Lily Sell, freshman Kori Elle McMillion and freshman Sadie McClain. While the girls are working hard in practice, the best way to improve their skills is hand-to-hand, live action.

"Some girls will have 30 matches this season, and some may have 20," said Bushong. "I'd like to get 15 to 20 bouts for our girls. At this point, I'd be very happy to have one qualify for the sectional (opening round of the postseason) tournament. Ideally, I'd like to have some qualify for states, but I have to be realistic. Most of them are just brand new and giving it a shot."

During this past offseason, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) sanctioned girls' wrestling as a varsity sport. That decision paved the way for a girls' wrestling postseason, including the individual state championship tournament at Hershey's Giant Center on Thursday to Saturday, March 7 to 9.

Warwick will compete at the Lancaster-Lebanon League girls' wrestling tournament at Manheim Township High School on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 26 and 27.

"We haven't won a whole lot of individual bouts yet," said Bushong. "Girls' wrestling is the fastest-growing sport in the country and Pennsylvania is behind all of its neighboring states. It's just starting to take off in Pennsylvania. It's catching on. I think over the next couple of years Pennsylvania will become one of the powers."

Many of the schools in the Lancaster-Lebanon League are in the same girls' wrestling boat as Warwick. Some schools have more wrestlers and are more competitive, and others still don't have girls' wrestling at all.

"Girls' skill levels might be good, but physical strength makes a difference," said Bushong. "They go out and wrestle just as hard as the boys. When they're put on their backs, girls don't have the strength to get out of it. A lot of girls' matches end in falls. It takes time and exposure to know how to fight off your back."

It will be interesting to see how the sport of girls' wrestling evolves, and the next few years will be important ones for the evolution.

"I'd like to see us be able to field a full team, with back-ups," said Bushong. "If our girls stay with it, we're going to be OK. You've got to get them young, get them started and get them interested in it. A lot of girls do things with offseason club teams. We have to pick up girls who aren't involved with other sports."