Documentary+ Acquires 'WrestleHer': Inside the 11-Part Series on Girls' High School Wrestling
Documentary+ has acquired the 11-part docuseries WrestleHer, which tracks the rise of girls' high school wrestling in Ohio during the final season before the sport received official sanctioning. The series premieres 10 September on Documentary+ and Allez! Sports, a sports-focused streaming partner. Deadline broke the acquisition exclusively on 12 August 2026.
Produced by Substance, WrestleHer was developed and directed by Ryan J. Kelly, who also serves as showrunner. Kelly produced alongside Adam J. Wilde and Geoff Yaw for Substance, Jon LaGuardia and Grace Nowak for Fusion Filmworks, Madison Craft and Geoff Clark for Documentary+, and Melissa Forman and Allyson J. Davis for Allez! Sports. The series spends its eleven episodes with female high school wrestlers and their coaches across Ohio, capturing the buildup to a milestone: the moment girls' wrestling moved from club-level status to a formally sanctioned scholastic sport.
The cast of wrestling figures lending context to the students' stories is substantial. WrestleHer features appearances from Helen Maroulis, the first American woman to win Olympic gold in wrestling; Kurt Angle, Olympic gold medallist and WWE Hall of Famer; Clarissa Chun, Olympic bronze medallist and former Team USA coach; Sally Roberts, a former national team wrestler and advocate for the women's game; Tela O'Donnell Bacher, another former national team member; and Vanessa Oswalt. Their voices sit alongside the everyday reality of the high school athletes at the centre of the series.
Documentary+ is a global streaming platform dedicated exclusively to documentary films and series. Geoff Clark, its CEO, also holds a producer credit on WrestleHer, a sign of how closely the platform is tying itself to the project. The Documentary+ roster includes originals such as The Price of Milk, A Man With Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole, Still Single, THC, Inc, The Spiritual Advisor, The Power of Pickleball, Comedy Against the Odds, The Hobby, Charm Circle, and A Swim Lesson, which made the Oscar shortlist for documentary short.
For viewers, the appeal is straightforward: a sport most people associate with boys and men, seen through the eyes of the girls who fought for a place on the mat before the rulebook caught up with them. The Ohio setting grounds the story in a state where wrestling runs deep, from youth clubs through the collegiate ranks.
WrestleHer arrives on Documentary+ and Allez! Sports on 10 September.
