Idaho adds two high school state tournaments. Here’s when they will start
A pair of new high school state tournaments are coming to Idaho next school year.
Idaho will split its girls wrestling state tournament into two divisions, and it will add a separate 1A state track meet for the 2026-27 season, the board of the state’s high school governing body finalized Wednesday.
The new state championship events mark Idaho’s first additions since 2021-22, when Idaho became the 29th state to sponsor a girls wrestling state tournament.
“It goes back to if you build it, they will come,” said Chad Williams, the executive director for the Idaho High School Activities Association. “We want to provide opportunities for kids to participate. And we do anticipate that if we’re building it, they will come.”
SECOND GIRLS WRESTLING STATE TOURNAMENT
The new girls wrestling format will split a single, open division into two competitions. Schools with more than 1,200 students will compete in Division I. Schools with fewer students will compete in Division II.
Both tournaments will still feature 16-person brackets in 14 weight classes.
Williams said the IHSAA wants to ensure male and female athletes have an equal shot at qualifying for the state tournament. In the past three years, an average of 33% of male wrestlers qualified for state compared to 26% of the state’s female wrestlers.
He acknowledged that doubling the girls state tournament will swing the numbers in favor of females for a few years. But with girls wrestling growing every year, he expects those numbers to even out quickly.
Participation in girls wrestling has more than doubled since Idaho sponsored its first official state tournament. The state saw 361 girls wrestle in 2021-22, according to IHSAA data. That number rose to 869 last season, a 141% increase.
The coming expansion marks Idaho’s second in a row for girls wrestling. The state went from 12 to 14 weight classes in 2025-26, anticipating those two extra brackets would satisfy demand for the next couple of seasons. They did not.
“When we looked at the trends, that was going to get us through five to six years,” Williams said. “And it turned out that our projections were completely wrong.”
Girls from Idaho’s smaller schools more than hold their own against the state’s largest programs. Athletes from the planned Division II won 64% of the individual state championships, captured 46% of the state medals and accounted for 45% of the state qualifiers last season.
But Williams said the IHSAA split the divisions at 1,200 students to put an equal number of wrestlers in each classification.
Williams added that hosting the next three state tournaments at Idaho State’s and Idaho’s indoor football stadiums would allow state wrestling to keep its two-day format. But adding another tournament at Nampa’s Ford Idaho Center would require a three-day schedule, because the arena holds fewer mats.
1A GETS ITS OWN STATE TRACK MEET
Idaho will also add its sixth state track and field championship meet next spring, splitting the 2A and 1A classifications into their own championship events.
The state’s smallest schools have long campaigned for their own season-ending meet. Last month, 2A athletes racked up 81% of the individual state titles, 69% of the state placers and 66% of the state qualifiers at the combined 2A/1A meet.
Middleton will continue to host the 2A meet, while the 1A meet joins 6A and 5A at Mountain View. The 1A meet will feature only 12 individual qualifiers in each event instead of the traditional 16, helping it fit into an already tight schedule at Mountain View.
Idaho last added a new state track meet in 2001 after splitting what’s now the 6A and 5A classifications across all sports.
This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 11:50 AM.
