Cheshire — The CIAC announced Monday that it will host a girls' wrestling invitational tournament in conjunction with the State Open on Feb. 28-29 at the Floyd Little Center in New Haven.

It will be the first CIAC-organized event solely for female wrestlers.

"The inaugural CIAC girls' wrestling invitational tournament exemplifies the CIAC's innovative approach toward empowering student-athletes through school-based sports," executive director Glenn Lungarini said in a release. "We have every belief this will be a great showcase for talented student-athletes who are certainly deserving of this spotlight."

The tournament will crown champions in 10 weight classes, along with third and fifth-place consolation matches. Seeding and brackets, the release said, will be released either Feb. 24 or 25.

Norwich Free Academy coach Steve Nelson said the Wildcats had five female wrestlers on the roster a year ago and is excited for them.

"This has been coming for a long time," he said. "Having a championship, it's great. For them to be able to showcase their skills and hard work, it will be a real benefit and help the sport grow.

"It's a great venue and everyone wants to qualify to get to New Haven. It's something the kids look forward to every year and to be able to offer a tournament for the female wrestlers on the big stage is a great."

Girls are permitted to compete on the boys' wrestling teams, and the CIAC said the number of female participants has from 70 in 205-16 to 131 last year. Female wrestlers will be able to wrestle in either the invitational for the boys' class meets. There will be no qualifying standards for the girls' tournament.

"There was tremendous enthusiasm to create this invitational with the members of the CIAC Wrestling Committee, and there is great hope this will create even more excitement and growth for girls' wrestling in the state," said Bob Lehr, CIAC Wrestling Committee liaison.

The growth of the sport in Connecticut has not risen to reach the threshold in which it can be sanctioned as an official CIAC championship sport, but the invitational will join several other CIAC organized events designed to provide a championship-level experience.