Luther Announces Addition of Women’s Wrestling Program

Wrestling becomes 11th women’s sport offered by Norse; search for program’s first coach to begin this winter

DECORAH — Luther College will expand its athletic department.

Luther administrators announced Thursday they plan to add a women’s wrestling program, making it the 11th sport offered to female athletes. The Norse are expected to begin competing in the 2025-26 school year.

“Luther has a long tradition of supporting its students’ desires to be part of teams, to learn discipline and resilience, and to compete,” Luther President Jennifer K. Ward said in a press release. “We were among the first colleges to establish varsity teams for women, starting in 1964 — long before Title IX required us to do so. We will soon celebrate our 60th anniversary by offering our women the opportunity to participate in varsity sports.”

Ward also noted that the coming year will be used to plan and prepare for the inaugural season. This fall and winter will be used to promote the program and inform potential recruits. The goal is to conduct a nationwide search in the winter to hire the program’s first head coach after this college wrestling season.

“With the NCAA and American Rivers Conference looking to add women’s wrestling as a championship, it was time to join them,” Luther Athletics Director Renae Hartl said in a release. “And with renovations underway at the future Gerdin Fieldhouse for Athletics and Wellness, including an expansion of the wrestling practice space, the timing was perfect.”

Luther becomes the seventh American Rivers Conference school to compete in women’s wrestling, joining Buena Vista, Central, Dubuque, Loras, Simpson and Wartburg. The conference’s first tournament was held in January at Waverly.

“With the NCAA and American Rivers Conference looking to add women’s wrestling as a championship, now is the time to join in,” Hartl said. “And with renovations underway at the future Gerdin Fieldhouse for Athletics and Wellness, including an expansion of the wrestling practice space, now is the perfect time.”

According to a press release, the recent NCAA convention included support for divisional championships at each level. Women’s wrestling is the 91st NCAA national championship, with more than 60 NCAA Division III member institutions with sponsored programs participating.

Competition schedules will be determined in the future and may be modified by participants participating in the first year.

“We won’t know for a while whether it will start as an open competition or whether it will also be team matches,” Hartl said. “We know that young women will have the opportunity to put on that famous blue Luther singlet and compete like a Norwegian.”

Northeast Iowa was a hotbed for girls wrestling, and high school programs in the area led the charge to have the sport recognized by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union.

Luther provides female wrestlers with more opportunities to extend their careers.

“The addition of women’s wrestling at Luther College will undoubtedly impact generations of future female athletes,” IGHSAU Executive Director Erin Gerlich said in a release. “Looking across our state and country in recent years, girls wrestling has been one of the fastest growing programs offered in sports. In Iowa alone, we continue to see exponential growth in the number of high school wrestlers each year, and reports from the youth wrestling community show no sign of girls wrestling slowing down anytime soon.”

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