Cuesta College’s women’s wrestling team was officially approved to move from club to intercollegiate status in November 2025, marking the start of the program being recognized as an official sport at Cuesta just in time for its 2026 spring season. 

This change in status transitions the team into a more highly structured program with increases in funding, administrative oversight and, most importantly, a significant increase in competition level, as the team can now compete as part of the California Community College Athletic Association (3C2A) as a team rather than a club, which gives them access to more competitions.

All proposed new programs at Cuesta go through a college-wide process managed by the College Council that involves several other committees. The process considers things like student demand, faculty requirements, impacts on other programs and budgetary needs before the Council makes its recommendation to the president and the Board of Trustees for final approval.  

“Cuesta has had a successful and thriving women’s wrestling club for at least three years, so the need and demand was fairly obvious,” said Cuesta Vice President of Instruction Jason Curtis via email. “The College Council also took note of the rapid growth of girls‘ wrestling at the high school level, particularly in San Luis Obispo County.”

Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest-growing sports for women in the U.S., across all ages, especially among high school-aged girls, with over an 15% increase from 2024 to 2025. 

Cuesta’s head wrestling coach for both women and men, Joe Dansby, has been observing this trend for years. 

Dansby has been a wrestling coach since 2003 and also coaches at Mesa Middle School and Nipomo High School, where his girls’ teams are now up to between 35-40 girls. 

“There have been girls and women doing it for a long time,” Dansby said. “We’ve had the interest, but they would have to wrestle men because there weren’t enough other women to have separate teams or competitions.”

Dansby spoke of former Cuesta wrestler Carissa Reynolds, who was the first woman to wrestle at Cuesta College in 2009. “Carissa wrestled only men for two or three years. She was a pioneer for the sport and ended up going to Oklahoma City University and competing at the collegiate level,” Dansby said.  

Reynolds was one of several former Cuesta women’s wrestling alumni who wrote letters about their experiences wrestling at Cuesta and the impact the sport had on their lives, to help secure approval for the formation of the women’s team.

“A lot of people helped make this a reality,” said Bob Mariucci, Cuesta’s athletic director. “It’s always a really exciting moment when a new women’s program gets approved. We are really thankful to everyone who made this happen.”

Although there is so much forward momentum for the sport of women’s wrestling, there are still misconceptions and stereotypes that women face. 

Second-year special needs education major Piper Lalli, who placed fifth in the state for Cuesta at the 3C2A Championships in 2025, said many people are surprised to learn about the spectrum of femininity in the sport. “You don’t have to be a super masculine woman to enjoy wrestling. You can be girly, you can be whatever you want. Everyone is welcome, that’s the beauty,” Lalli said.

Another misconception the women face is that people think they don’t fight as hard as men. “We do the same things. We train just as hard, have to qualify to compete, cut and make weight, and we often have more judgment to fight against, as well as our opponent,” said second-year pre-nursing major Aubree Kooren.  

Even with the outside noise, several of the women on Cuesta’s team spoke of the sense of calm they feel during and after wrestling. “A lot of the people I coach say they do it because it just makes them feel better. It works out the inner demons, and they say the world feels more peaceful,” he said. 

“Combative sports aren’t just about being aggressive – there’s a mental part too,” Dansby said. 

Kooren, who took seventh at the state level for Cuesta at last year’s 3C2A Championship Tournament, has been wrestling since high school and credits it with improving her mental health. “Putting my all into wrestling was the best decision I’ve ever made for myself. My mental health has never been better, and I’m a part of a team that is a family,” Kooren said.

Though the current team is still small, with only five out of the eight women competing, they are already proving to be a force, taking eighth overall in state at last year’s 3C2A Championship, where they were one of the last schools allowed to compete with club status, with four out of five wrestlers taking state places, including Cuesta’s first All-American title win by second-year pre-nursing major Ayten Elbarbary, who got third in state.

Elbarbary, who has been wrestling for seven years, said the hardest part of the sport is the mental battles you face with yourself. “If you put too much pressure on yourself, especially in the beginning, that’s when it gets really, really hard. Know that you are going to be challenged in wrestling, you can’t avoid that, but also know you are going to grow so much as a person,” she said.

The team is looking forward to growing their numbers and welcoming more women who want to try the sport, even if it’s their first time. 

Third-year general education major Ana Garcia hopes that women realize that it’s a sport for anyone. “Anything new is always scary, but once you try it, it’s fun, and the people are so kind,” Garcia said.

Though there wasn’t time to recruit before the start of this season because of the team’s November approval date, Dansby trusts the numbers will come.

“I’m just really proud of the direction we’re going,” Dansby said. “I’m really excited to see after a whole year of recruiting what this could be and five years from now. I think it’s going to be a huge thing for people.” 

Though Dansby is inching closer to retirement, he says he isn’t ready to walk away just yet. 

“I want to get this thing running for a couple years. My hope is to leave wrestling in a better spot than when I came in,” Dansby said. “That’s always the goal, right? Leave things in a better spot than you found them.”

To join the women’s wrestling team, you register for it like you would a class, as there are no tryouts. If you are interested in competing, you must be taking 12 units, though being part of the team counts as 3 of those, and you must pass a health physical verified by the Athletics Department. For women interested in being a practice player and not competing, the requirements are fewer. 

Although the season has already begun, any women interested in joining the team should contact Dansby at [email protected] with any questions or inquiries.