One sport that is growing faster than the Iowa Corn this year…is Girls’ and Women’s Wrestling. In 2019 at the high school level the Iowa Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association tournaments started crowning girls wrestling state championships, and in 2023 that very popular sport oversight transitioned to the IGHSAA.
Girls wrestling in Iowa is exploding. That rapid growth in girls’ wrestling in Iowa and now many other states has helped accelerate the growth of Women’s wrestling at the NCAA level.
Very recently on July 9th, 2025 the NCAA added women’s wrestling as its 91st championship sport, providing another athletics opportunity for female athletes to compete. Divisions I, II and III approved the addition at the Association’s Annual Convention. There were 76 women’s wrestling programs at NCAA schools in 2023-24, with projections pointing to an additional 17 programs in 2024-25. More than 1,200 women wrestlers are competing at NCAA schools today. *Source NCAA.com
Today, Coe College Kohawks announced that they are adding Womens wrestling for the 2026-27 season..
The American River Conference that Coe is a member – has seven schools that currently sponsor women’s wrestling including: Buena Vista, Central, Dubuque, Loras, Luther, Simpson, and Wartburg. (Cornell College in Mt. Vernon in the Midwest Conference has womens wrestling)
The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) will host its inaugural Women’s Wrestling Championship on January 24, 2026, at Central College in Pella, IA. That first-ever championship will be a historic one.
The Coe program will be led by three-time NCAA All-American Kaleb Reeves, who brings a highly accomplished background in collegiate, junior and senior-level wrestling to the program. Reeves will spearhead the program’s efforts with a year to build and recruit the program in 2025-26, before competition begins in 2026-27.
“Women’s wrestling has so much momentum at the state and national level,” Director of Athletics & Recreation Steve Cook shared. “We see how much this sport has grown in our own home state and we look forward to joining the expanding ranks of collegiate programs. The college and athletic department are fully committed to supporting this program as our newest sport. Our rich history and long-standing success in men’s wrestling will provide a platform for our Kohawk women to build their own tradition and success. Coach Reeves is an exciting addition to our staff. He will utilize his experiences on and off the mat to establish the Kohawk Women’s Wrestling program as a national contender. A Coe wrestling champion in his own right, Kaleb’s vision made him the obvious choice for us as we look forward to an exciting new chapter in Kohawk Athletics. His legacy and leadership will undoubtedly inspire our athletes as we strive for excellence together.”
Women’s college wrestling is growing so fast it was difficult to get an exact number of how many programs will be competing this fall (there are many club level programs that usually become official as they grow). The NCAA quote “with projections pointing to an additional 17 programs in 2024-25” is informative. It is a projection and not a final number. So, if the official oversight organization for the NCAA is unsure I won’t feel too bad about not having every school identified.
I was able to identify 38 NCAA D3 wrestling programs officially competing (non-club) this year with the seven Iowa ARC schools and Cornell College (who competes in the Midwest Conference).
This does not include Iowa NAIA Schools Waldorf, Grandview, and William Penn or Division 2 Upper Iowa University who have womens programs The sport is growing so fast that I may be an Iowa School or two behind. P.S. I know the Hawkeyes have a growing program of course, but the IowaSportsGuys coverage is focused on Iowa High School to FCS level.
It was exciting to see Coe join the list. I would note: Coe hiring Kaleb Reeves (Sigourney, IA) a Coe Alumnus, who was three-time NCAA All-American wrestler, shows a commitment to fielding a strong women’s team.
I would predict that the national championship in Division 3 will likely reside at one of the Iowa Division 3 schools shortly after they start handing out the championship trophies. e.g. Wartburg is a national power in men’s wrestling (16 National Titles the most all time), and the A-R-C has the best D3 Wrestling in the US as all the programs have great wrestling history.
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