On September 19, Luther College formally announced the addition of a women’s wrestling program, set to commence for the 2025-2026 academic year. This move marks the beginning of the 11th women’s sport on campus to match the 11 men’s offerings. Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest-growing disciplines in women’s sports, and Iowa is one of women’s wrestling’s leading states.
The drive to create a women’s wrestling program from the ground up solidified after Luther hosted the first Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union (IGHSAU) wrestling regional tournament in northeast Iowa in February 2023. Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Renae Hartl spoke to how the tournament impacted the decision to add the sport.
“We’ve been talking about it for two years or so,” Hartl said. “I think we did a really good job [with the tournament], so we saw firsthand that this was a sport that Luther College could do very well.”
Executive Director of the IGHSAU Erin Gerlich made a statement in support of Luther adding women’s wrestling. In it, she pointed to the overall growth of the sport.
“In Iowa alone, we have consistently seen the number of high school female wrestlers grow exponentially each year, and reports from the youth wrestling community show no signs of girls’ wrestling slowing down anytime soon,” Gerlich said.
The new renovations to the Regents Center and construction of the future Gerdin Fieldhouse reinforced the decision to start a women’s wrestling program; part of the plans include a significant expansion of the wrestling training facilities. Hartl pointed to how this new team is being considered in the planning.
“The new fieldhouse will have accommodations for women’s wrestling in terms of locker room space,” Hartl said.
The local American Rivers Conference is adding women’s wrestling as an official championship in the winter of 2025 while the NCAA announced that it would be officiating sponsored women’s wrestling by February 2026, just in time for Luther to come into the fold. Luther is not waiting to start recruiting, though, which Hartl pointed out.
“Right now, we are creating our pool of prospective student-athletes, and [Assistant Wrestling Coach and Athletic Department Recruiting Chair] Billy Huebner and I will be meeting with them and their families as they visit campus before our first coach is named this spring,” Hartl said.
While the search for a prospective women’s wrestling coach continues, Huebner is working behind the scenes to recruit promising wrestlers from schools across the country.
“The vision is to fill a roster [and] see these women compete in tournaments and win,” Huebner said. “You want to see how a young team can handle the competition, and the ultimate goal is to see them place at tournaments and take victories. Seeing them beat girls from established programs would be huge.”
Huebner’s aim before then, however, is to first recruit 15 to 20 girls. He views the budding program as first needing a solid foundation of experienced first-year wrestlers before further expansion is possible, but he has an optimistic vision for the 2026-2027 season.
“When it’s all said and done, we could have fifty women’s wrestlers by our second year,” Huebner said.
With the men’s program already having an established legacy, the women’s program is expected to follow suit after its first season.
“I could see women’s wrestling being the best female sports program at Luther, with the right people,” Huebner said.
Students are enthusiastic about the addition of women’s wrestling to Luther’s sports offerings. First-year Norah Mettemeyer (‘28) sees women’s wrestling as a great new addition to the Norse athletics.
“I think it’s a good thing,” Mettemeyer said. “I know that a lot of high schools have started women’s wrestling programs, and I think that it’s great that it’s being brought to the collegiate level.”
The addition of women’s wrestling to the world of Luther College athletics not only evens out the number of sports offered to men and women, but also gives Luther an opportunity to contribute to one of women’s fastest-growing sporting disciplines.
