Lincoln College joins the movement, adds women’s wrestling
LINCOLN, I.L. – – There’s no sign that the flurry of colleges and universities adding women’s wrestling will slow down. Lincoln College Athletic Director Mark Perdue announced the addition of women’s wrestling earlier today, the fourth announcement just in September.
The Lynx become the latest NAIA institution to champion the sport. Additionally, with the details of The Lindenwood Belleville situation announced in August, they are currently the only NAIA institution with plans to offer women’s wrestling in the state of Illinois.
Men’s head wrestling coach Jordan Bakely and assistant coach Sam Recco have started recruiting efforts as the program anticipates competition beginning in the fall of 2020. Perdue said he would like to have a women’s coach selected by springtime.
LC is one of four Illinois colleges and universities that offer women’s wrestling. Fellow in-state programs include McKendree University, MacMurray College, and North Central College.
The addition of women’s wrestling programs goes hand-in-hand with increased participation rates at the interscholastic level across the nation—participation rates that compound when states sanction girls wrestling. Illinois has yet to sanction girls wrestling, and Missouri is the only border state that has made the move.
Read LC’s full press release, here.
