The University of Iowa has announced that it will be adding a women’s wrestling program to its athletic department. The school released a statement on Thursday morning.

It will become the first Power 5 institution to add women’s wrestling.

Per the release, the team is expected to begin competing for the 2023-24 academic year. A national search for a women’s wrestling head coach is underway.

“This is an exciting day for the university, our department and the sport of women’s wrestling,” said Iowa athletic director Gary Barta “Our wrestling history and success makes this a perfect fit. We are confident that at Iowa, our women’s wrestling student-athletes will have the opportunity to compete at the highest level athletically and academically.”

According to the release from Iowa, there are 45 collegiate women’s wrestling programs across the country, five of which are located in the state of Iowa.

“This is important to a lot of people for a lot of reasons,” said Iowa men’s head wrestling coach Tom Brands. “This is historic. This needed to happen and it’s appropriate that it is happening first at the University of Iowa. There is no greater place in the world to wrestle than Iowa City, Iowa, and with our new wrestling facility we are prepared to offer world-class training for both our Hawkeye men and women.”