This year, OCU became one of the first schools in the country to offer women's wrestling.

The move puts OCU ahead of the game, Coach Archie Randall said.

"We were looking to add opportunities for women athletes," he said. "Right now there are only six colleges with women's wrestling, but in four or five years, there will be about 30 in the nation.

"It was an opportunity for us to get ahead of the game."

There are 25 women on the team. They are from across the country, including states as far away as California and Maryland.

The team features eight girls named All-Americans on the high school level, and five girls ranked in the top eight in the country.

Randall said he hopes to have 15 women compete at the Olympic trials this summer in Las Vegas.

The team opens their home schedule Nov. 10 against Cumberland College (Ky.), the defending national champions. They are confident that they will be competitive.

"We're very excited and a little nervous," said Emma Mercer, English education freshman. "We're the first team, so no matter how we do, it's a success, but we think we're going to be very good."

Mercer is one of many on the team coming from out of state and moving was an adjustment, she said.

"Coming from Kansas, it's a long way from home, but now that I'm here I really love the school and I'm so excited about all the girls we have on the team," she said.

"I wrestled on my boy's high school team. Getting the chance to wrestle in college was definitely the reason I chose to attend OCU."

LeAnn Barney, business administration/studio art sophomore, is one of three team captains. She also has high expectations for the team.

"I'm expecting our team to beat out Cumberland," she said. "I think we can win every duel and go undefeated if everyone pushes hard. I want to shut out every team we duel."

The women work just as hard in the classroom as on the mat, Coach Randall said.

"We have a great group of girls here," he said. "We have girls from all kinds of majors.

"These girls are very driven and are going to be successful at whatever they do."