SALINA, Kan. – Kansas Wesleyan will launch its 26th intercollegiate sport in the fall of 2025, as the university announced Tuesday that women’s wrestling will begin competition that semester. A coach will be hired this fall, with assistant coaches to follow.
“It’s always exciting to add a new opportunity for our students,” said Ken Oliver, executive vice president of advancement and university operations. “This balances our athletic offerings by enabling a new, female-specific competition, and it’s a growing sport with a strong Midwest base. This decision, however, is about more than that. These types of additions give our students chances to compete and to learn the valuable life skills athletics can teach. Away from the mats, our university is investing in athletic facilities, we’re building new residence halls (and renovating existing ones), and this semester, we’ll have a new dining hall. All of this comes together to create an environment that puts the student first and helps them have a great experience as a Coyote.”
The program is the first KWU has added since Sept. 2020, when men’s volleyball joined the slate. Current offerings Esports, women’s flag football, and men’s and women’s bowling have also joined the Coyote Athletic Department in the past decade.
KWU’s team will practice in Muir Gym, using a suspension mat system. KWU will renovate a locker room for the team, as well.
There are 37 NAIA schools in the United States who offer women’s wrestling programs. More than one-third of them (14) are in Kansas, Missouri or Nebraska, and the Coyotes will become the sixth KCAC school to sponsor the sport. 2024 was the second year that the program held championship status in the NAIA.
“It’s always exciting to add a new sport,” said Athletic Director Miguel Paredes. “Women’s wrestling is on the rise nationally and is especially popular in the Midwest, but more than that, this is another addition to a fantastic Coyote experience. Our department has been at the forefront of adding emerging sports for years, and I’m pleased that this announcement continues that trend.”
For more information on Kansas Wesleyan University, please visit www.kwu.edu/news. For more on Kansas Wesleyan Athletics, visit www.kwucoyotes.com.
ABOUT KWU: Kansas Wesleyan University is a private, nonprofit four-year college in Salina, Kan., and affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Its mission is to promote and integrate academic excellence, spiritual development, personal well-being and social responsibility. KWU provides an educational program characterized by excellence, within a caring community, rooted in the liberal arts tradition, that includes 16 academic departments and a wide range of majors. KWU’s Music program and debate teams have been especially successful, with debaters winning more than 65 national championships and graduates of the music program securing positions all over the U.S. Multiple athletic teams have advanced to national tournaments in recent years, and the Athletic Department’s cumulative GPA has exceeded 3.0 for the past three years. For more information, visit www.kwu.edu.
