Athletic Director Scott Musa and newly named Wrestling Director Jon Laudenslager ’99 announced on Aug. 14 women’s wrestling would be added to Wilkes’ athletic lineup. This makes the 24th athletic team the school has.
“With the NCAA sponsoring a national championship starting in 2026, the women will have the same access to championships that our men currently enjoy,” Musa said.
Laudenslager, a former Wilkes wrestler himself, has served as the team’s head coach since 2003. His new role will see him coaching both the men’s and women’s programs. In his tenure as head coach, Laudenslager has overseen more than 300 duel wins for the Colonels.
“I am extremely excited about adding to our Wilkes wrestling brand and family with the addition of women’s wrestling,” Laudenslager said.
Beginning next year, the NCAA will hold a women’s wrestling championship.
“I believe it’s the right time. It will give our women the same opportunities our men have been chasing all these years,” he added.
The program, already in early stages of recruitment, will kick off next fall. Duel meets for the new group of Colonels will begin in winter of next year. Musa’s announcement is a historic one, not just for Wilkes, but for the Landmark Conference as well. Wilkes is now the first member in Landmark history to begin a women’s wrestling program.
Laudenslager plans to have a team of 15 for the program’s inaugural season. New locker rooms will be built for the women’s team, adding to the state-of-the-art wrestling center.
Coming on board as well will be the new men’s associate head coach, Pankil Chander ‘17, a former member of the team. Amassing a collegiate career record of 91-50, Chander won the 2015 Wilkes Open in the 141 lb weight class. After graduating, Chander was head coach of wrestling at Penn College, leading the team to their first national ranking, as well as their first NCAA wrestling championship.
The announcement was made in front of a packed Henry Gymnasium of former coaches and athletes. President Greg Cant was also in attendance. Helping to unveil the program were current and former wrestlers including 2024 All-American Cameron Butka, Senior Christopher Nuss, Assistant Coach Kyle Krasnavage and Alexandra Gundlah ‘22.
A growing number of schools across the country have begun women’s wrestling programs. For Wilkes, it was just a matter of time before they became one of the over 120 schools across the country that either have built a program or plan to.
