HOWELL — Cleary University is expanding its athletics program to include women’s wrestling and co-ed competitive dance in the 2026-2027 school year, the school announced.

The wrestling team will compete in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference beginning next fall. Women’s wrestling is rapidly growing all over Michigan, and Cleary said it is excited to join the movement.

“With so much momentum building for women’s wrestling across the country, it made sense for Cleary to add this sport,” Cleary Director of Athletics Max Ballinger said in a press release Aug 18. “The growing excitement and interest in this sport made it a logical decision.”

The university has already hired Beth Strom to be the competitive dance team’s head coach.

Strom spent the last 10 years at Concordia University

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