Athletic Director Scott Musa announces that Wilkes will be fielding its first women’s wrestling team.
Athletic Director Scott Musa and newly appointed Wrestling Director Jon Laudenslager ’99 announced on August 14 that women’s wrestling would be added to Wilkes’ athletic roster. This will be the school’s 24th athletic team.
“With the NCAA sponsoring a national championship starting in 2026, women will have the same access to championships as our men currently do,” Musa said.
Laudenslager, himself a former wrestler at Wilkes, has been the team’s head coach since 2003. In his new role, he will coach both the men’s and women’s programs. During his tenure as head coach, Laudenslager has recorded more than 300 tackle wins for the Colonels.
“I am extremely excited to expand our wrestling brand and family in Wilkes by adding women’s wrestling,” said Laudenslager.
Starting next year, the NCAA will host a women’s wrestling championship.
“I think it is the right time. Our women will get the same opportunities that our men have been chasing all these years,” he added.
The program, which is already in the early stages of recruiting, will launch next fall. Duel competitions for the new group of Colonels will begin next winter. Musa’s announcement is historic, not only for Wilkes, but for the Landmark Conference. Wilkes is now the first member in Landmark history to launch a women’s wrestling program.
Laudenslager plans to field a team of 15 players in the program’s inaugural season. New locker rooms will be built for the women’s team to complement the state-of-the-art wrestling center.
Also new on board is new men’s assistant head coach Pankil Chander (class of 2017), a former member of the team. Chander posted a collegiate career record of 91-50 and won the 2015 Wilkes Open in the 141-pound weight class. After graduating, Chander served as head wrestling coach at Penn College, leading the team to its first national ranking as well as its first NCAA wrestling championship.
The announcement was made in front of a packed Henry Gymnasium filled with former coaches and athletes. President Greg Cant was also in attendance. Helping to introduce the program were current and former wrestlers, including 2024 All-American Cameron Butka, senior Christopher Nuss, assistant coach Kyle Krasnavage and Alexandra Gundlah ’22
More and more schools across the country have started women’s wrestling programs. For Wilkes, it was only a matter of time before they would become one of the more than 120 schools across the country that either have established a program or are planning to do so.
