Just a decade ago few envisioned a women’s wrestling team competing for the Rams. But as the sport exploded at high schools across the nation, our Strategic Planning Committee set it as a priority program.
Cornell became one of the first 29 Division III colleges to add women’s wrestling when we announced our launch on Dec. 1, 2021. The timing was perfect: today girls wrestling is the fastest-growing high school sport. Because we moved quickly, Cornell is in a good position to attract wrestlers who want to continue the sport in college.
We couldn’t have made that choice without Cornell’s endowment.
Although a budget for the program did not exist, the flexibility of unrestricted endowment funds allowed Cornell to pivot and launch the program.
“We were able to move quickly and now we’re in a great position to recruit women wrestlers,” says Vice President for Enrollment Management Wendy Beckemeyer. “We’re at the leading edge of this exciting sport, offering women new athletic opportunities, and our enrollment is growing because of this program. It’s a win-win.”
Cornell’s young team landed two place-winners at the Rams’ first-ever women’s wrestling tournament—the Cliff Keen-Mike Duroe Invitational—in January. The team has a roster of 15 women in its second year of competition and shares facilities with the men’s team in the renovated and expanded Richard and Norma Small Athletic and Wellness Center—the SAW.
When Cornell announced the launch, then-Athletic Director Seth Wing called it “a giant step for the college as we continue to enhance the student-athlete experience” that would build on Cornell’s “rich and storied” wrestling program, which includes the 1947 national championship team.
Thanks to the flexibility of unrestricted endowment funds to serve the college’s highest priorities, Cornell women’s wrestling provides opportunities for the representation and success of even more Ram female athletes.