ROSEVILLE, Calif. — Nearly 1,100 women wrestlers from across the country came out to Roseville for the Women's West Coast Tournament of Champions Friday and Saturday.
Organizers say women's wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports right now.
"The combination of middle school, high school and college — there's nothing like that in the country," said tournament founder and director Don Martinez, "It's unique."
He said he watched how the Reno Tournament of Champions ran their event, and decided to approach Placer Tourism to host a women's version of the wrestling event.
"We saw the [popularity] coming a few years back, so we jumped on that," said Martinez.
Davis High School wrestler Andrea Gonzalez said she can absorb the techniques athletes from different schools show off through the tournaments.
"You get to wrestle against some new people who you normally don't when it comes to small tournaments," she said. "I think this is going to be a really good season."
The seventh annual competition includes about 70% of Sacramento area high schools with girl's wrestling teams.
