Iowa remains only Power Five women’s wrestling program. How soon will that change?

IOWA CITY — Clarissa Chun experienced a full-circle moment last month at Carver-Hawkeye Arena before her team took on her alma mater, Missouri Valley College.

Chun, the first women’s wrestling coach at Iowa, embraced Mike Machholz — the person who started the women’s wrestling program at Missouri Valley and consequently created an opportunity for Chun as an athlete that she has “so much gratitude for.”

The dual pitted two history-making teams. Missouri Valley was one of the teams at the “beginning of college women’s wrestling overall,” Chun said. Iowa, a couple decades later, became the first Power Five intercollegiate program.

On a day with plenty of historical symbolism, Chun also looked forward to the day if/when Iowa fans “can see Iowa vs. Michigan and Penn State.” As for how long until Chun’s dream of more Power Five women’s wrestling programs existing becomes a reality, it remains unclear.

Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz has been approached “a good handful of times” by colleagues at other schools about the prospect of adding women’s wrestling.

“Our coaching staff has continued to have some conversations as well,” Goetz told The Gazette.

Oklahoma State men’s wrestling head coach John Smith said in 2021 that OSU was “in talks” about adding an intercollegiate women’s wrestling program, according to an article in the Stillwater (Okla.) News Press. But Oklahoma State AD Chad Weiberg told a student reporter in 2023 it is a “very challenging time to even think about adding any sports.”

Weiberg’s sentiment underscores perhaps the biggest obstacle for the sport’s growth as the NCAA grapples with potentially transformational changes to the collegiate model in the coming years.

“Given there are a lot of things going on in the (college sports) landscape today, that might be an impactful part of an institution’s decision about when and how to launch a program,” Iowa’s Goetz said.

As much as Goetz and other collegiate sports leaders “believe in creating participation opportunities,” she also emphasized the need to “have a financially viable path to do so.”

“Right now the focus really has to be on ensuring that you can support the sports and the student-athletes that you have, at the level you need to ensure that you’re providing them a great experience,” Goetz said.

While many schools cut sports during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — including Iowa, Minnesota and Michigan in the Big Ten — there has been much less appetite toward adding sports.

The website Athletic Director U counted seven intercollegiate sports teams added by Power Five athletics departments since COVID-19, as of March 2023. Iowa is partly the exception to the current trend because of a Title IX settlement that forced the athletics department to add another women’s sport.

Encouraging signs

While a changing college model does not make it any easier to add women’s wrestling as a collegiate sport, momentum is surging at the high school level.

The number of high school girls participating in wrestling across the country jumped from 16,562 in the 2017-18 school year to 50,016 in the 2022-23 school year — a 202 percent increase — according to surveys conducted by the National Federation of State High School Associations.

In 2017-18, only three states — California, Texas and Washington — had 600-plus high school girls participating in wrestling. By 2022-23, that number ballooned to 23 states.

“There’s interest in the sport,” Goetz said. “We’re seeing that in high schools in different pockets of the country for women.”

Wrestling remains outside the top 10 nationally for most popular high school girls’ sports (based on number of participants). Lacrosse, the 10th-most popular sport, had almost twice as many female participants as wrestling.

Another encouraging sign came last week when the NCAA announced its Committee on Women’s Athletics voted to recommend legislation that would add women’s wrestling as a championship sport. The recommendation comes with a projected timeline of the first NCAA women’s wrestling championship happening in 2026.

The high turnout at Iowa’s first two home meets — with official attendance numbers of 8,207 and 6,775 — during its inaugural season also could be a selling point for fellow Power Five athletics departments. The 8,207 fans at the Trailblazer Duals in November is believed to be a world record.

“Having an opportunity to watch what it’s done on our campus is going to be helpful,” Goetz said.

In the meantime, the Hawkeyes have dominated their competition. Iowa outscored its dual opponents, 593-108, en route to going 16-0 this season.

Only three other Division I programs — Presbyterian, Lindenwood and Sacred Heart — sponsor intercollegiate women’s wrestling programs, so the Hawkeyes’ inaugural season included duals against six Division II teams, two Division III teams and four NAIA teams.

While the duals were not always the most competitive, they were a sign of progress for the NCAA-classified “emerging sport” — progress that came with a personal touch before the dual against Missouri Valley.

“A beautiful circle,” Chun said after coaching against her alma mater. “Took 25 years, but nonetheless, it continues to grow.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com