ESU Adds Women's Wrestling
EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University women's wrestling interim head coach
Anibal Nieves announced Wednesday that the Warriors have signed Olivia Rondeau to a National Letter of Intent.
Rondeau, a native of Gaithersburg, Md., was a 2017 Junior Olympics Gold medalist and recorded three MSWA Maryland State Wrestling Championships (Greco, Freestyle, and Folkstyle) in 2016 and 2017. She was ranked as high as third in the nation wrestling at 164 pounds in 2017, and is currently ranked 10th at 180 pounds.
"It's a very exciting day for myself and our women's wrestling program", noted Nieves. "I'm honored that Olivia believes in what we are going to create here at ESU. She is one of the best wrestlers in the country in her weight class. She's had many offers, and for someone with her accomplishments to believe in my vision of winning a national title, speaks a lot about her."
Rondeau currently attends the Penn Foster School, which is based in Scranton, Pa., through distance education as part of the Montgomery County Public School system's homeschool program. She is a member of the Terrapin Wrestling Club at the University of Maryland. Rondeau works with UMD head coach and Olympian Kerry McCoy, UMD alumni and two-time All-American Jimmy Sheptock, and Adam Forschener, who is the senior club coach.
She also attended Wyoming Seminary, a college preparatory school in Kingston, Pa., which offers an Olympic Development Team. The program is focused on freestyle wrestling at the high school level. Her coaches, Erin Vandiver, and Adeline Gray have both wrestled at the national and international level. Vandiver also coached at the national level for the United States, while Gray is a three-time World Champion and Olympian.
Rondeau placed third at the 2016 Women's Freestyle Nationals in Fargo, N.D. and second at the 2017 USAW USMC Folkstyle National Championships. Her resume also includes championships at the 2017 Girls Super 32 Championships and 2018 Dark Knight Savage Nationals. She first learned to wrestle at Poolesville High School under coaches Tim Tao and Kevin Dorsey.
Women's wrestling will be ESU's 21st varsity sport when it begins in fall 2019 and is governed by the Women's College Wrestling Association. While not recognized as an NCAA intercollegiate sport, the WCWA is in the process of pursuing emerging sport status from the NCAA.
The WCWA recognizes 101, 109, 116, 123, 130, 136, 143, 155, 170, and 191-pound weight classes. Currently, there are 48 varsity women's wrestling programs at the collegiate level across the United States and Canada.
