Indiana Tech to add women's wrestling program

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Indiana Tech will be adding the sport of women's wrestling to its athletics offerings, with the goal of hiring a coach this spring and begin competition in the 2020-21 academic year, Director of Athletics Debbie Warren announced Monday.

"We are excited to offer this emerging sport for women and look forward to building a winning program," Warren said. "The opportunity to compete for an NAIA national championship is something we think will make us competitive right away."

Women's wrestling will become the 26th varsity program at Tech and the 12th sport to be added to the Warrior Athletics Department since 2005.

Tech will compete in the NAIA, the only intercollegiate athletics association to sponsor women's wrestling, where the sport is in its first season as an invitational sport. There were 24 NAIA institutions that sponsored women's wrestling at the start of the 2018-19 season, and a number of schools have added the sport over the last six months.

Tech will be the first college in the state of Indiana to offer women's wrestling to its athletics offerings.

A national search for a head coach will begin immediately.