WILKES-BARRE – Wilkes University Athletic Director Scott Musa announced the addition of women’s wrestling to the intercollegiate sports program at an official press conference at the Marts Center on Wednesday morning.

Click here to watch the full press conference.


“As the first Division III national champion in men’s wrestling (in 1974), Wilkes has a proud history in the sport, and expanding that history by adding a women’s program makes perfect sense to us,” Musa said. “It’s one of the fastest growing sports for women in high schools, if not the fastest, and it fits perfectly with our culture,” he added.


The addition of women’s wrestling brings the number of intercollegiate sports at Wilkes to 24. It also makes Wilkes the first school in the Landmark Conference to offer the sport. The program will begin competition in the 2025-26 season. Musa also announced the promotion of Jon Laudenslager to director of wrestling and welcomed 2017 graduate Pankil Chander as assistant head coach for men’s wrestling as the wrestling staff structure at Wilkes undergoes a revamp. In the coming year, Wilkes will look to hire another full-time assistant head coach for women’s wrestling to complete the staff structure.


Wilkes joins 51 colleges and universities that had women’s wrestling programs in 2022-23, and more than 70 schools indicated they planned to sponsor the sport in the 2023-24 academic year. Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest-growing sports in the country and was designated an NCAA emerging sport for the 2020-21 academic year. It is on track to become the 91st NCAA championship sport, with the first NCAA championship expected to be held in the winter of 2026. Current NCAA women’s wrestlers will compete in a season-ending national competition organized by the Coalition of Wrestling Organizations.


“With the NCAA sponsoring a national championship starting in 2026, women will have the same access to championships as our men currently have,” Musa noted. “That was another big factor in our decision to add women’s wrestling now,” he added.


“On behalf of the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Board of Directors, I am very pleased that Wilkes University is adding an intercollegiate women’s wrestling program to its athletic department,” said Mike Moyer, NWCA Executive Director. “Wilkes University already has a very rich tradition in men’s wrestling (and all other sports) and we have no doubt that intercollegiate women’s wrestling will greatly enhance that tradition. Any time we give young women more opportunities to compete in sports, we should all celebrate. I want to thank the Wilkes University administration for recognizing the educational value of these opportunities.”


Laudenslager is the longest-tenured head coach on the team and has led the Wilkes men’s wrestling program to nearly 300 dual wins in his 22 years at the helm. In his new role, he will now recruit both men and women as he oversees both programs and teams.


“Our coaching structure, led by Jon Laudenslager as wrestling director and including full-time assistants for the men’s and women’s programs, positions us to be successful,” Musa explained. “Jon is an outstanding coach and mentor who will recruit women to Wilkes who excel academically, athletically and socially. Men’s assistant head coach Pankil Chander is already on board, so next year we can focus on finding assistant head coach candidates for the women who are ready to help Jon provide these women with the same great experience our male student-athletes enjoy.”


“I’m very excited to be able to add women’s wrestling to our wrestling brand and family in Wilkes,” Laudenslager said. “It’s an Olympic sport and with the NCAA hosting a championship next year, I believe now is the right time to do it. It will give our women the same opportunities our men have been chasing for all these years.”


Chander is no stranger to Wilkes, having graduated in 2017 after a four-year career on the mat. Most recently, he served as the head coach at Pennsylvania College of Technology since June 2022. Under his leadership, the Wildcats achieved their first NWCA national team ranking in 2023-24 and became the first program in Penn College history to make it to the NCAA Championships. Chander also coached the team to its first dual championship and its first season with two top-five tournament finishes, including a team championship in 2023 at the RIT Invitational.


Prior to Penn College, Chander successfully worked as an assistant wrestling coach at Springfield College, where he earned his master’s degree in 2020. He coached 12 NWCA Scholar All-Americans and eight NCAA Northeast Regional Medlaists over two seasons and led one wrestler to a top-12 finish at the 2022 NCAA DIII Championship.


In August 2018, Chander was named assistant wrestling coach at Gettysburg College and coached three NWCA Scholar All-Americans, one Division III NCAA Qualifier, and seven NCAA Southeast Regional placewinners. He also helped the team to its first NWCA team placing.


During his time as a Colonel, Chander achieved a career record of 91-50 and was the 2015 Wilkes Open champion in the 141-pound class. Chander was also named an NWCA Scholar All-American and was a starter on the team that won the 2014 Division III East Region Championship. He later earned his master’s degree in sports administration from Springfield College in 2022.


“Having Pankil back as associate head coach is an immediate boost to our men’s program and he is a Wilkes Colonel,” Laudenslager noted. “He understands our history, our proud tradition and has a proven track record as a coach at the collegiate level,” he added.