TRAFFORD, Pa. (Feb. 11) - The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) has announced that it will sponsor women's wrestling as its 25th championship sport, beginning in the 2026-27 academic year. Waynesburg's third year as a varsity program will be its first as an official conference member.

The PAC Presidents' Council approved women's wrestling as a championship sport during their meeting in December, a move which came before the approval of an NCAA Division III Women's Wrestling Championship during the annual NCAA Convention in January. After the membership overwhelmingly approved its establishment, the initial year for a DIII Championship will be in the 2027-28 academic year.

With the addition of women's wrestling, which will have its first PAC Championship in 2026-27, the number of conference-sponsored championship sports increases to 25 (13 men, 12 women).

"With the addition of women's wrestling as the PAC's 25th varsity sport, the conference continues its long history of adding athletic opportunities for women," said PAC Commissioner Joe Onderko. "The growth of women's wrestling as a scholastic sport, coupled with the long history of men's wrestling in the conference dating back to the PAC's founding in 1955, makes this a logical addition to our sport sponsorship inventory. We are very excited to host our first Presidents' Athletic Conference women's wrestling championship in 2027."

Two other PAC schools currently field women's wrestling programs: Bethany College and Hiram College. In addition, Chatham University and Washington & Jefferson College have announced they will begin programs starting in the 2026-27 year. That will give the conference five teams to compete at the first PAC Women's Wrestling Championship next year, which will be held in February similar to the men's wrestling championship. The championship site will be rotated between PAC schools who offer the sport. 

In order to have a Division III championship, there must be a minimum of 40 programs and for this current year, there are 55 Division III women's wrestling programs. In 2026-27, after competing at PAC Championships, conference programs will wrestle at Regional Championship meets to try to qualify for the national collegiate women's wrestling championship meet which includes all Division I, II and III women's wrestling programs. 

Then beginning in 2027-28, PAC women's programs will follow a similar path as the men's programs. They will wrestle at PAC Championships, then at regional meets to attempt to qualify for the Division III Championship.

With the 2025-26 regular season completed, the Waynesburg University women's wrestling team returns to action on Friday, Feb. 20, at the two-day NCAA Women's Region III Championships. The event is being hosted by Emmanuel University in Franklin Springs, Ga.