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BERWICK — In a small room inside the historic Eric L. Knowlton School, mats cover every inch of the floor while music softly breaks the silence. Wrestlers at different stations are jumping rope and lifting rusted dumbbells.

Overseeing everything is Kayleigh Boucher, who this year became the state’s first paid girls high school varsity wrestling coach at Noble High School. Boucher is also in her third season as an assistant coach for Kevin Gray and the boys program.

“I’m just hoping that being a pioneer program for this sport — not even a pioneer coach, but a pioneer program for the sport of women’s wrestling in this state — will just continue to open doors for girls in other programs across the state, ” said Boucher, 32, a 2011 Noble High graduate.

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Boucher and Gray each earn a coaching stipend of about $6,000 a year, a district official confirmed.

“We’ve really tried to make this happen over the last couple of years,” Gray said. “She originally came on as a volunteer. Last year, she was a paid assistant. But now, as a full-time head coach, it’s just huge for the sport. Hopefully, we can grow that and help move it along.”

Boucher’s hiring coincides with the growth of high school girls wrestling. In 2021-22, Maine had 78 female wrestlers from 33 high schools, according to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations. Last season, Maine had 158 female wrestlers from 37 high schools. Several high school programs in Maine, including Belfast, Skowhegan and Mt. Blue in Farmington, feature girls teams, but only Noble has a full-time paid head coach.

A similar trend is playing out nationally. Last season, 74,064 girls from more than 8,000 schools wrestled, compared to just 31,654 in 2021-22.

In 2023, female wrestlers in Maine got their own regular-season meets. Noble, Skowhegan and Mountain Valley in Rumford hosted wrestling tournaments that were only for girls, a major milestone.

Also that season, Maddie Ripley, then a junior at Oceanside High in Rockland, became the first girl in Maine to win an individual state championship while wrestling against boys.

Ripley, who now competes for Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts, praised Boucher’s hiring as a big step forward for girls athletics in Maine.

“It’s really exciting to see Kayleigh Boucher breaking new ground,” Ripley said via a text message. “This hiring is a huge step forward for the sport’s growth and recognition in the state. It also shows a real commitment to supporting and developing female athletes in wrestling, which can only help inspire more girls to get involved by having a female coach dedicated to them.”

The Maine Principals’ Association sanctioned its first individual girls state tournament in 2019. Maine crowned its first girls wrestling team champion in 2024, which Noble won. The Knights, with Boucher leading the way, would go on to win the inaugural New England girls championship that same season.

Ella Brown, a junior who previously served as the Noble wrestling team’s manager, is competing this winter. She said wrestling for a girls team was appealing.

“I think it’s just kind of cool to see the difference between a wrestling team with girls on it and a girls wrestling team,” she said. “It feels like there’s more recognition and that it’s a sport for us, too. There’s an option for us to be there.”

Added Boucher: “I’m very excited. To build a girls program here is exciting. The girls deserve these opportunities that they’re getting. To be able to give them their own schedule and (travel to) their own tournaments every weekend is big for the sport. It’s huge for our program, specifically.”

Noble Athletic Director Aaron Moore said Boucher — a former standout wrestler at Noble — was the right person to lead the girls wrestling program, and that the Maine School Administrative District 60 school board agreed.

“They were very supportive of it, knowing that we have girls that are interested in the program and that the sport is rapidly growing,” he said. “It’s nice when your kids have success, make headlines, and more people can see what great things are going on with Noble wrestling. That passed pretty seamlessly.”

Boucher said Noble has 10 girls wrestling this season and will continue to recruit through the high school and the district’s multiple youth programs. The team is led by senior captain Hannah Perro, a three-time girls state champion. Delaney Frost is also a reigning girls state champion.

“I’m happy to see more girls trying it out,” Perro said. “We’ve had the most girls that we’ve ever had (participating). I feel like with each year, it’s just going to keep growing because people see that we’re doing well and it’s fun to do.”