Cedar Crest College launched its women's wrestling team in 2022.
The facility, funded through the college's five-year capital campaign, features a six-circle wrestling mat surrounded by wall mats, according to LehighValleyLive.com. It also includes a dedicated area for cardio, stretching and film study, plus offices for the coaching staff. The outlet reports that the campaign has pumped more than $3 million into Cedar Crest athletics overall, a figure the college confirmed in a news release.
From Tournament-Only Debut to Dual Meets
Cedar Crest's path to its current program started modestly. Head coach Alex Depew, hired as the program's first-ever leader, took over a squad that competed only as a tournament team during its inaugural 2022-23 season, according to mcall.com. The team didn't wrestle its first full slate of dual meets until the 2023-24 season, that same report noted.
Since then, the program has compiled a 16-3 record over its past two seasons, per the same account from LehighValleyLive.com. Along the way, Cedar Crest wrestlers have earned 14 NWCA Academic All-American honors, produced eight regional place-winners and crowned multiple individual tournament champions, with several current athletes holding regional and national rankings.
What College Leaders Are Saying
Depew said the new facility gives student-athletes a space of their own, calling it a representation of progress, growth and opportunity for women to compete and succeed, according to the outlet's report. Cedar Crest Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer Elizabeth Wilson echoed that framing in the college's release, saying the facility reflects the institution's commitment to expanding opportunities in women's athletics.
In 2023, the NCAA described a projected path to championship status, with a first championship projected for winter 2026. WV News reports growth in girls' high school wrestling in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Virginia, feeding into the college pipeline.
Part of a Fast-Growing National Movement
In 2022-23, 51 teams reported sponsoring women's wrestling nationally, a 12-school jump from the prior year, and more than 40 schools met the NCAA's minimum competition and participant requirements that same season, according to NCAA.com. Division III programs made up 30 of those schools, with 19 in Division II and two in Division I, and the average roster size sat at 15 wrestlers.
Support for the sport has also grown at the national level. USA Wrestling announced six recipients of its newly established Women's College Growth Fund this year, a program that began with a $40,000 joint investment from USA Wrestling, the Greg Strobel Leadership Fund and a private donor. One recipient is from Columbia University, which isn't adding varsity women's wrestling until 2027-28.
Fairmont State launched its inaugural women's wrestling team with 12 athletes across 10 weight classes and projects its roster could reach 30 to 40 wrestlers within five years, becoming the sixth school in the Mountain East Conference to add the sport while matching travel funding and scholarship support between its men's and women's squads.
