Fairmont State University joined a growing list of schools adding women’s wrestling to their roster of varsity sports, and then made history by hiring a female coach to lead the team.
According to WDTV, Sami Lusk will lead the inaugural season of Falcon wrestling at the West Virginia-based university. She has several years of experience coaching successful women’s wrestling programs and working in college athletics environments.
“This is an exciting time not only for Fairmont State University but also for the sport of women’s wrestling,” said Greg Bamberger, director of athletics. “We are excited to welcome Sami to the Falcon family. Her passion for the sport, commitment to the development of the student-athletes, along with her experience both competing and coaching, paved the way for her to be named our first head women’s wrestling coach.”
Lusk previously served as the assistant women’s wrestling coach and sports nutritionist at Warburg College and as the head girls’ wrestling coach at Caldwell Girls High School, which she lead to state qualifiers and cemented as one of the top high school programs in the state. Lusk was also honored as a 2025 Girls Coach of the Year.
“I am incredibly honored and grateful for the opportunity to become the first head women’s wrestling coach in Fairmont Sate history,” Lusk said. “To be trusted with building this program from the ground up is something I don’t take lightly and I am excited to lay a foundation built on hard work, discipline, and a championship mindset.”
During her own competitive days, Lusk was a state champion wrestler in high school and joined the Grand View University women’s wrestling team, earning All-American honors and setting the program record for single-season pins.
“Women’s wrestling is growing at an incredible rate and I am honored to be part of that movement here at Fairmont State,” Lusk said. “My goal is to build a program that competes at a high level, develops strong women on and off the mat, and creates something future generations can be proud of.”
