Panther Valley School Board on Wednesday approved girls wrestling as sport in the school district, days after its state champion wrestler Brenda Banks finished fourth in national competition in Fargo, North Dakota.

Banks, who wrestled with the boys team this past year as a freshman, was eligible to wrestle in the 16 and under category at the 2023 U.S. Marine Corps Junior Nationals, but bumped up to the junior division, losing in the semifinals to the nationally fourth-ranked, 225-pound champion from California in a tie with the judge’s decision.

Banks, who was selected to be Pennsylvania flag bearer at the national event, also inspired other girls to pursue the sport at Panther Valley with wrestling coach Chris Nalesnik compiling a list of at least 17 girls who are interested in joining the team.

Nalesnik hopes to bring more girls into the sport, he said, and he is excited to get started as girls wrestling is now a PIAA-sanctioned sport in the state with more than 100 schools starting teams.

With a girls team, wrestlers such as Banks, who wrestled against boys in her first year in the sport as a freshman, will now wrestle only girls, Panther Valley athletic director Kristin Black said before the meeting.

Other schools in the area have also added girls wrestling, and now, Black expects to see more tournaments for girls in the area with PIAA affiliation. She also hopes to piggyback with the boys’ events at different schools, she said.

Black congratulated Banks on her accomplishments, saying, “She’s killing it, she really is.”

Board President Daniel Matika asked Nalesnik if he was with her at the nationals. The coach said he wasn’t, but said he watched every match.

“She’s 15 still and to finish fourth in the nation at that level as an All-American is almost unheard of,” Nalesnik said. “I know in the next year or two we’re going to be getting a lot of calls from colleges on her. She’s a tremendous tale and just a tremendous kid all around.”

A coach will be added for the girls wrestling program.

Superintendent David McAndrew Jr. said they’re excited to see where the wrestling program is headed.

“This is the first year we had wrestling after a number of years, and to have numbers that justify boys and girls wrestling teams, it’s really great,” he said.