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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Iowa announced Thursday that it will be the first Power Five school to add a women’s wrestling program and begin competitions in the 2023-24 season.
“Being first is huge,” said Tom Brands, Iowa men’s wrestling coach. “Being the first is powerful.”
The Iowa men’s program anticipates its 24th NCAA national championship. Sporting director Gary Barta said the introduction of a women’s program had been discussed for several years.
“(Wrestling) is part of Iowa history,” said Barta. “It’s part of the university’s DNA.”
The search for a head coach begins in the fall.
The NCAA recognized women’s wrestling as an emerging sport in all branches in 2020. There are 45 intercollegiate wrestling programs for women, including five in Iowa.
The sport is growing to the high school level – 32 states have sanctioned high school wrestling championships for girls. Girls wrestling is not sanctioned by the two high school sports associations in Iowa, but has a state tournament sponsored by the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association. More than 600 girls competed in Iowa wrestling last season.
The Hawkeye Wrestling Club has sponsored female wrestlers since 2017. Terry Steiner, the US women’s national coach, won an NCAA singles title and was part of three NCAA championship teams when he wrestled in Iowa in the early 1990s.
“Women’s wrestling is great,” said Brands. “There are little girls all over the country, all over the world, who are going to see this. It’s so effective. “
Brands has long been a supporter of female wrestling, telling the NCAA Board of Governors in a 2017 letter that “it is long overdue for women to take advantage of this great sport.” The university’s new wrestling building, slated for 2022, includes training facilities.
“To be honest, Tom was in my ear three, four, five years ago and said, ‘Come on, boss, let’s go. Let’s add women’s wrestling, â€said Barta. “We weren’t ready to do that, but we watched it.”
Brands are included in the coaching search, but he stressed that the women’s program will be separate.
“The women will have their own training times,” said Brands. “The women will have their own head coach. Women will have their own structure. You will carry out your program at your own discretion. We’re going to hire a trainer. It will be the best coach in America. Attention.”
Barta said the discussion on including women’s rings has been halted because of the pandemic. The university suspended men’s gymnastics, men’s tennis, and men’s swimming and diving after last season due to financial concerns related to the pandemic. Women’s swimming and diving were originally among the sports that were canceled, but they were reintroduced.
A settlement currently being finalized in a Title IX lawsuit filed by multiple female swimmers after those cuts included starting a women’s sport.
“In general, it was about Title IX and specifically about adding women’s sports to counting women’s sports,” said Barta of the comparison. “We had already agreed to reintroduce women’s swimming permanently. Part of the deal was to add a women’s sport and we chose women’s wrestling for all the obvious reasons. “
Women’s Wrestling can award 10 scholarships that can be shared among participants. The squad size is expected to be 30-35 wrestlers.
Iowa will now offer 22 sports – eight men’s teams and 14 women’s teams. The university added women’s rowing in 1994 and women’s football in 1996.
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