North Michigan News

The Northern Michigan women's wrestling team has joined the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) as an associate member, effective from the 2025-26 academic year. This development was announced on Thursday and marks women's wrestling as the 27th sport sponsored by the conference.

The inaugural season of GLVC women's wrestling will include seven institutions. These are full-time league members McKendree University, Quincy University, Upper Iowa University, and William Jewell College. Additionally, associate members Davenport University, Grand Valley State University, and Northern Michigan University will participate. The latter three are part of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and were approved for associate membership in June 2025.

Jim Naumovich, GLVC Commissioner, stated: "The GLVC is pleased to partner with the GLIAC to promote the growth of women's wrestling by sponsoring a regular season championship for the seven schools that sponsor the sport in both leagues." He added: "We look forward to the addition of the programs from Davenport, Grand Valley State, and Northern Michigan, that will all compete for the inaugural GLVC Women's Wrestling Championship in 2026."

Northern Michigan's team will be led by first-year head coach Adam Wilson as they enter their fifth season of competition.

McKendree initiated its program in 2013-14 and was among those invited to the Inaugural National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships (NCWWC). Davenport began competing in 2020-21, while Northern Michigan and William Jewell started their programs in 2021-22. Quincy entered competition in 2022-23, Upper Iowa followed in 2023-24, and Grand Valley State launched its program last season in 2024-25.

The inaugural GLVC Women's Wrestling champion will be determined based on winning percentage from Conference matches only.

For more information on GLVC women's wrestling, updates can be found online at GLVCsports.com and social media (@GLVCsports; #GLVCwwres).