[Spirit Squad] Grand View to Begin Women's Wrestling This Fall

Des Moines, IA.  Grand View University is proud to announce the addition of a women's wrestling program beginning in the fall of 2019.

Grand View Director of Athletics, Troy Plummer is excited, "Due to the increased interest and participation in the sport of women's wrestling locally and in the NAIA, along with the success of our men's program, we believe this is the best fit for Grand View as the 26th varsity program. We are excited to offer the opportunity for females to compete collegiately in the sport of wrestling." This is the tenth varsity program Plummer has added since becoming Director of Athletics in 2007.

The NAIA dubbed women's wrestling as an invitational sport beginning in the 2018-19 academic year. The decision was unanimously approved in April of 2018 by the NAIA's National Administrative Council at the NAIA National Convention. The NAIA has more member institutions sponsoring women's wrestling than any other intercollegiate athletics association. Grand View will become the second college in the state of Iowa to offer a women's wrestling program.

Kent Henning, Grand View University President, is passionate about this endeavor. "We are proud to add women's wrestling to Grand View's strong athletic offerings. There is a lot of excitement about the sport and we are committed to offering young women the same level of access to college-level athletics as is available to young men. We look forward to welcoming female student-wrestlers to our campus this fall."

Grand View started a men's program from the ground up in 2008. Since then, Nick Mitchell and company have won seven NAIA National Championships, 36 NAIA Individual National Titles and produced 82 All-Americans. "I'm really excited Grand View has decided to bring women's wrestling to campus," says Mitchell. "It's cool to be one of the pioneers of an emerging women's sport in Iowa. I'm looking forward to working alongside the new coach and doing whatever I can to help them build one of the top women's wrestling programs in the nation."

Learn more about NAIA women's wrestling here.

The search for the Head Coach is underway. More information here.