It’s a weekend of firsts in Iowa, where the first national women’s college wrestling championship is taking place and the first HBCU Division 1 women’s wrestling team is fielding players.
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Delaware State University is the first historically black college or university to launch a women’s wrestling program at the D-1 level. And this weekend, this HBCU is competing at the first NCAA championship for women’s wrestling. NPR’s Jason Fuller reports.
JASON FULLER, BYLINE: Wrestlers aren’t artists, but the sport is no doubt an art. Kenya Sloan loved and competed in wrestling as a kid.
KENYA SLOAN: I started wrestling when I was 7 years old. So I weighed about 60 pounds when I started wrestling. I think I fell in love with the individuality of the sport. I love that you reap what you sow quite literally when it comes to the sport of wrestling.
FULLER: Sloan is Delaware State University’s newly minted head coach of the women’s wrestling program. She hit the recruiting trail last summer, talking up what wrestling did for her and the opportunities now available.
SLOAN: Just because of the newness of what we’re doing – right? – we’re the first institution to add a women’s wrestling program at a Division I HBCU, and so it draws a lot of attention. There’s an extra layer to this.
FULLER: The extra layer is the merging of two communities – the rich, historic, vibrant culture of HBCUs and the fandom for disciplined, technique-heavy wrestling. Her roster of wrestlers know they’re making history, but they’re mostly just focused on their moves in the 32-foot circle.
ICART GALUMETTE: And I just love the hard work that it comes with, the discipline – staying consistent, being consistent throughout the sport. There’s always more to learn. I’m now trying, like, putting together combinations and stuff.
LOUISE JUITT: I’m just coming here as a freshman, so I don’t really know much, and I’m probably, like, not really giving myself enough kudos or whatever, probably. But I can’t stress it enough that I’m excited to go compete at the national level.
FULLER: That’s junior wrestler Icart Galumette and freshman wrestler Louise Juitt. These humble and hungry wrestlers have propelled Delaware State through an impressive season and are both excited to be competing in the sport’s inaugural national championship. But their road to Iowa couldn’t have happened without additional funding to build infrastructure for wrestling at HBCUs.
JAHI JONES: You know, I ended up becoming a two-time county champion, regional champion, multiple-time national All-American. And it was important for me to go to college – right? – and to continue the sport. But at the time, none of the HBCUs had opportunities for Division I wrestling.
FULLER: That’s Jahi Jones. He grew up just outside of the nation’s capital, where he wrestled in high school, and then at the University of Maryland as a walk-on. He built a network of wrestling supporters who came together in 2021 to found HBCU Wrestling. As executive director, he’s brought big donors to the program, including billionaire investor Mike Novogratz who acknowledged how important wrestling had been to his path.
JONES: He also understood how important Ivy League wrestling was to his development. So he doubled down on that, and he gave his initial gift of $6 million, right? And not only did he give us a gift, but he also allowed us to have matching opportunities of $1 million a year for the next four years.
FULLER: From that amount, 1.25 million helped launch Delaware State’s women’s wrestling program. But Jones says Delaware State better watch out. Other teams are rising, like Florida A&M University, an HBCU in Tallahassee that has an active women’s wrestling club.
SLOAN: It’s something that’s electric. It’s something that’s hard to not want to be a part of when it’s growing the way that it’s growing. There are people that are still looking to see, you know, what is college women’s wrestling all about? What does Division I women’s wrestling look like? What does HBCU women’s wrestling look like? You know, there’s all these layers of things that are new and kind of unprecedented and people are looking to us to kind of figure out what it’s supposed to look like.
FULLER: Wrestlers Icart Galumette and Louise Juitt have been training hard to bring Delaware State glory this weekend. They still take time to enjoy victory treats, though. Louise Juitt, for instance, is an energy drink connoisseur after matches.
JUITT: OK, my favorite drink ever when I was in high school – and they don’t have it here, sadly – but I liked Dutch Bros Electric Berry Rebel. But they don’t have them here, so if I can, I’ll get the little Red Bull, or I’ll just get a slushy.
FULLER: Well deserved. Jason Fuller, NPR News.
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