Women’s Wrestling Begins First-Ever Season

Across the nation, women’s wrestling has been having a moment. The sport is not only the fastest-growing one in American high schools, but in 2025, it also became officially recognized by the NCAA as its 91st championship sport. With this growing enthusiasm in mind, Wilkes Athletic Director Scott Musa announced the University’s intention to form a women’s wrestling team. This past fall, that goal became a reality, as Wilkes fielded a team consisting of 14 first-year students and one junior, and set out on its first-ever intercollegiate women’s wrestling season.

Wilkes Director of Wrestling Jon Laudenslager ’99, MBA ’22 envisioned this inaugural team as establishing a foundation for the program moving ahead. Head Coach Kasey Kruczek agrees: “The hard part about any first-year team is building that culture and having those girls buy in,” she says. “Obviously, our team bought in, and are acting as trailblazers for the future.”

For first-year business administration major Grace Riley, the team at Wilkes has helped her find confidence in a sport that sometimes left her feeling like an outsider. “Being on this team, the girls and I share many of the same struggles when it comes to wrestling. I’ve always felt like I wasn’t wanted in this sport, being in a room full of boys, but now, I feel like I can truly be myself and just focus on wrestling.”

Though the team is young, Kruczek has confidence in her wrestlers and high hopes for this season. “The first step is to get the girls ranked regionally, and then nationally. As a first-year program, our ultimate goal is getting the team out to the national championship. I believe in them, and I believe we can do it.”