A huge milestone in Women’s Wrestling occurred today. The University of Iowa, which has a well-known and highly regarded men’s wrestling program, announced it would be adding a women’s wrestling program.

As a grandmother of a young lady who loves to wrestle, I can’t wait to tell her when she gets home from school. She has attended camps, wrestled boys and girls, and was even a State Pee-Wee champ, but nothing will get her fired up like this will. She has so looked up to Forrest Molinari since attending the Duane Harney camp where Molinari coached, talked about women’s wrestling, and encouraged the future of wrestling in Iowa.

Iowa men’s wrestling has won 24 all-time NCAA team titles, the second most in NCAA history. Hawkeyes have led the nation in wrestling attendance each of the last 14 seasons — and that’s not counting the 2021 season, which was hampered by COVID-19.

With college wrestling’s most visible, and one of the most successful programs, adding women’s wrestling this is the biggest news in the rapidly changing movement for girls’ and women’s wrestling around the country. A handful of other Power Five schools have readied themselves to add women’s wrestling programs, but the Hawkeyes were the first to pull the trigger, and it positions them to strike early on the upcoming wave of talented wrestlers that will soon be available in recruiting. Iowa is set to become the mecca of Women’s Wrestling.

There are now over 100 colleges that have added women’s wrestling programs nationwide, including over 40 at the NCAA level. That number is important, as women’s wrestling is considered an emerging sport by the NCAA at the Division I, II and III levels. NCAA bylaws say a sport needs 40 varsity NCAA programs, at minimum, to gain full championship status. 

Iowa is only the third NCAA Division I school to add women’s wrestling, joining Presbyterian College in South Carolina and Sacred Heart University in Connecticut. The Hawkeyes are the seventh Iowa school to add it: Iowa Wesleyan is also an NCAA program; Waldorf, Grand View and William Penn are all in the NAIA; and Indian Hills and Iowa Western are junior colleges.

Overall, USA Wrestling’s female membership has increased more than 70 percent over the last two years. The overall nationwide participation numbers of girls’ wrestling has nearly doubled between 2014-15, when 11,5496 girls wrestled, to 2018-19, when 21,124 girls wrestled. That’s according to stats kept by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

As many as 32 state high school associations either sponsor girls’ wrestling or recognize a girls’ wrestling state championship. Before 2019, there were only six. Iowa does not fall under this category because the girls’ state championships are hosted by the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association instead of the Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union. The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union does not currently sanction women’s wrestling. Hopefully, momentum created by today’s announcement will prompt sanctioning in Iowa.