An increased number of female students have joined Fordham Club Wrestling, mirroring the nationwide growth of women’s wrestling. `
Club Wrestling is a co-ed team and welcomes all those who have any interest in learning about and training in wrestling. The current vice president of the club is Teagan Hales, Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) ’25. She said her experience at the club has been “absolutely phenomenal” and names the female presence at the wrestling club as the reason.
“Fordham Club Wrestling has its own subgroup of incredibly hard working female wrestlers that I am immensely grateful to be a part of. If any female students are considering joining, they definitely should,” she said.
The current club president, Nicholas Tudisco, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill (GSBRH) ’25, is glad that the club is a part of the trend.
The female wrestling community within the club is reflective of the bond within the entire team. Tudisco said that the connection between fellow athletes is his favorite thing about being on the Club Wrestling team.
“Women’s wrestling is one of the fastest growing sports in New York State, and I’m honored to have so many hardworking girls on the team who are so passionate about the sport,” he said.
Kirsten Davis, FCRH ’27, joined the team her first year and wants to continue to support the growth of women’s wrestling on campus.
“I think it’s important for there to be a women’s Club Wrestling team on campus because we need to take any opportunity that we can to grow the sport of women’s wrestling,” Davis said.
The female wrestling community within the club is reflective of the bond within the entire team. Tudisco said that the connection between fellow athletes is his favorite thing about being on the Club Wrestling team.
“At the end of the day, it’s a support system,” Tudisco said. “We all help each other out in and out of the wrestling room. When I see someone on the team helping someone they just met learn a move, that’s what really makes me happy.”
The Club Wrestling team is one of the few mixed martial arts teams at Fordham. The club aims to teach members how to wrestle and provide a space for students to learn and practice self-defense skills.
Tudisco urged students to join the club and emphasized the incredibly welcoming environment, regardless of experience level.
Tudisco believes that wrestling is a great foundation for anyone interested in learning self-defense.
“I think that wrestling should be offered at every school. It is so foundational and anyone interested in MMA or self-defense should absolutely learn the discipline of wrestling,” he said.
Tudisco urged students to join the club and emphasized the incredibly welcoming environment, regardless of experience level.
“If wrestling sounds like something you want to try, I implore you to ignore any hesitations you might have and just dive right in,” Tudisco said. “Fordham Club Wrestling is the perfect place to do so.”
Since its founding in 2018 by Gino Baratta, FCRH ’22, and Frank Spatafora, GSBRH ’22, the club joined the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) and trains in both fall and spring semesters of the academic year.
During the wrestling season, the rostered athletes compete against other Club Wrestling teams both at Fordham and universities across the Northeast. For Hales, the competitions are one of the highlights of being on the team.
“My favorite part of this club has been the opportunity to travel and compete against other schools with my team. Recently, we even held our first home dual, which we look forward to hosting again this year,” Hales said.
Oct. 16 marked the first practice of the 2024-25 Club Wrestling season. This year, the club practices three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights at Fordham Prep.
The bulk of a typical practice is split into two sections, drilling and “live.”
Drilling is practicing and learning wrestling techniques. At the start of the season the drilling consists of learning foundational wrestling technique and progressively gets more advanced as the season goes on.
“Live” is an emulation of an actual wrestling match, where the wrestlers have the freedom to wrestle using their preferred techniques. Before and after the drilling and “live” sections, there is conditioning that functions as a warmup and a cooldown.
I joined Club Wrestling last year as a first-year student at Lincoln Center. I have been wrestling since I was 11 years old, so when I moved to college, I wanted to bring wrestling with me.
The Club Wrestling team trains like any other athletic team, although the choice to compete is up to each athlete. Therefore, the club is open to those who just want to come and learn and practice their wrestling. Davis notes that the club is accessible to those on the team.
“My favorite thing about Club Wrestling is that it is flexible. I don’t have an obligation to put wrestling above academic and social commitments, so it is relatively stress-free in that way,” she said.
I joined Club Wrestling last year as a first-year student at Lincoln Center. I have been wrestling since I was 11 years old, so when I moved to college, I wanted to bring wrestling with me. As Hales shared, the female wrestling community at Fordham has been so welcoming and supportive. Getting on the Ram Van and getting to practice is truly one of the best parts of my week.
As a Lincoln Center student myself, it can feel like the club athletic programs are inaccessible because the majority practice at Rose Hill. Despite this fact, the Club Wrestling team has been one of the greatest communities I have found during my time here at Fordham.
The season runs through March, concluding with the national tournament that will be hosted in Virginia this year.
Tudisco has a lot planned for this year’s season and hopes to build on the success of the 2023-24 season.
“One of my goals is to host another home dual meet like we did last season against Stony Brook,” Tusdisco said. “I also want to bring a small group of the most committed wrestlers on the team to Virginia for the NCWA national tournament this year. I have yet to compete in Nationals, and I think it would be a huge step for the club to bring a good group there.”
Hales said that she has the same excitement for this year and the future of the team on campus.
“This season, I am hoping to continue to grow the presence of our club alongside all of the new underclassmen we’ve brought in,” Hales said. “I’m looking forward to our team getting stronger and winning some matches this year! Roll Rams.”
