Wrestling continues to grown on the high school level, according to statistics released for the 2000-2001 school year by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS).    Wrestling grew in every category, with more boys competitors, girls competitors and teams than the previous season. It was the eighth straight year that the total number of wrestling competitors and teams has grown nationally, and the fifth straight year that the number of participants has grown. In addition, wrestling remains one of the most popular sports for boys, according to the survey.    Wrestling was ranked No. 6 in the number of boys participants with 244,984 total participants in the nation. Only football, basketball, outdoor track and field, baseball and soccer had more boys participants than wrestling.    The number of boys wrestlers on the high school level increased by 5,879 from the previous year, increase of 2.5 percent.     Wrestling was ranked No. 9 in the number of boys programs, with 9,404 wrestling teams in the United States. Wrestling was ranked behind basketball, outdoor track and field, baseball, football, golf, cross country, soccer and tennis in total number of programs.     The number of boys wrestling teams increased by 358 programs last year, an increase of 4.0 percent.    Girls wrestling continued its growth trend of recent years as well. According to the survey, the number of girls in high school wrestling grew to 3,032 participants, up from 2,474 during the 1999-2000 year. This increase of 558 girls participants represents an outstanding 23.0 percent increase.    In addition, the number of wrestling teams with girls participating showed an increase again. In 1999-2000, 734 high schools had girls involved in wrestling, but the 2000-2001 year, the total grew to 896 programs. This increase of 162 programs represented an increase of 22.0 percent.    In overall wrestling participants, both boys and girls, the grand total increased from 241,579 to 248,016 in 2000-2001. This increase of 6,437 athletes represents an increase of 2.7 percent.    Based on figures from the 51 state high school athletic/activity associations, participation in all high school athletics during 2000-2001 was 6,657,257, an increase of 100,345 athletes from the previous year. This sets the all-time record for high school sports participation, exceeding the previous high set last year. Total participation increased for both boys and girls during the year.    The NFHS has compiled the survey since 1971 based on figures from its 51 member state associations. With the exception of a slight decrease from 1987-88 to 1988-89, participation has risen each year since the 1983-84 year.    In the listing of total athletic participants by state, Texas remains No. 1 with 779,329, followed by California (633,572), New York (334,945), Illinois (302,354), Michigan (295,799), Ohio (294,848), Pennsylvania (226,419), New Jersey (218,982), Minnesota (217,270) and Florida (211,648).    The top 10 states for boys wrestling participation were California (24,326), Illinois (14,367), Ohio (13,468), Michigan (12,064), New York (11,980), New Jersey (8,853), Minnesota (8,547), Washington (8,517), Pennsylvania (8,338) and Indiana (8,194). All states, except Arkansas, reported boys wrestling participants.    A total of 31 states reported girls wrestlers to the NFHS. California had the highest total, with 752 girls wrestling on the high school level, followed by Texas with 485, Hawaii with 239, Washington with 256 and Michigan with 153.