Garden City Community College Announces Addition of Women’s Wrestling Program

 Garden City Community College is proud to announce the addition of women's wrestling as an NJCAA-sanctioned sport beginning in Fall 2026.

This decision follows more than a year of careful discussions and evaluation by GCCC leadership, including collaboration with community stakeholders that ultimately led to approval by the Board of Trustees on Tuesday night. 

"Women's wrestling is one of the fastest-growing sports in the nation, and adding this program provides our student-athletes with expanded opportunities for competition, scholarships, and higher education access," said GCCC President Dr. Ryan Ruda. "We are thrilled to provide a pathway that strengthens Title IX compliance, fosters local partnerships and student recruitment, and keeps GCCC at the forefront of emerging athletic opportunities." 

Women's wrestling has strong roots in the region. The Garden City High School girls' program is currently ranked ninth nationally by USA Wrestling, providing GCCC with a direct recruiting pipeline to some of the best talent in the country. Many other local school districts have strong women's wrestling programs, which makes this decision pivotal for increasing access for local and regional students. In addition, several Kansas Jayhawk Conference schools plan to add women's wrestling, ensuring competitive scheduling opportunities.

"Women's wrestling is not only one of the fastest-growing sports in the nation, but also an emerging NCAA sport that continues to gain recognition at every level," Director of Athletics, Mike Pilosof said. "By adding it here at GCCC, we are aligning ourselves with that national momentum and giving young women an opportunity to pursue their academic and athletic goals in a sport that is clearly here to stay."

The NJCAA currently sponsors 10 women's wrestling weight classes, and GCCC anticipates recruiting a roster of 25–30 student-athletes. The program will compete from October through early March each year.

Through the college's Strategic Enrollment Management process, women's wrestling was identified as an opportunity to increase access and affordability for students by creating a new pathway to higher education that does not currently exist at GCCC and is limited regionally.

"This is a huge opportunity—not just for GCCC, but for our community," Vice President for Student Services and Athletics, Colin Lamb said. "We are building on the momentum of a nationally ranked high school program and providing an outlet for young women to continue their athletic and academic journeys close to home."

Garden City Community College will embark on a nationwide search for the program's first head coach who will begin recruiting the inaugural class of student-athletes.