This story was written by NMU Sports Informatiom
INDIANAPOLIS – The Northern Michigan women's wrestling team has joined the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), announced Thursday. Beginning in the 2025-26 academic year, women's wrestling will be the 27th sponsored sport of the conference.
The inaugural season of GLVC women's wrestling will feature seven institutions, including full-time league members McKendree University, Quincy University, Upper Iowa University, and William Jewell College, as well as associate members Davenport University, Grand Valley State University, and Northern Michigan University. All three institutions are members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and were approved for associate membership in June of 2025.
"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." Said Jim Naumovich, GLVC Commissioner, "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."
Entering their 5th season of competition, Northern will be guided by first-year head coach Adam Wilson as the team enters a new era of competing.
McKendree started their program in 2013-14 and was an original invitee to the Inaugural National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships (NCWWC). Davenport has been competing since 2020-21, with Northern and William Jewell each starting their programs in the 2021-22 season. Quincy began competing in 2022-23 while Upper Iowa started in 2023-24, with Grand Valley State the newest program, only starting theirs last season in 2024-25. The inaugural GLVC Women's Wrestling champion will be determined upon the winning percentage of Conference matches only.
