Gettysburg College is proud to announce the addition of three new varsity sports over the next two academic years: women’s wrestling, women’s acrobatics and tumbling, and women’s flag football.
Women’s wrestling will launch in Fall 2026 as Gettysburg’s 25th varsity sport. Women’s acrobatics and tumbling and flag football will follow in 2027-28 as the 26th and 27th programs. These are the first sports added to the Bullets’ varsity portfolio since women’s golf debuted in 2000-01.
The three sports will enhance one of the strongest NCAA Division III athletic programs in the country. Last year, Gettysburg ranked No. 29 in the nation in the annual D-III Learfield Directors’ Cup standings.
“We are pleased to introduce these three new women’s sports and expand opportunities for our student-athletes,” said President Bob Iuliano. “Division III athletics are a powerful complement to the transformational education we provide our students, and taken together ready our students for consequential professional and personal lives. As we continue to position Gettysburg College for an extraordinary third century, this is the right moment to broaden our intercollegiate offerings. These additions represent a meaningful commitment to our athletics program and to attracting the most driven competitors—both in and out of the classroom—to our campus community.”
An announcement of Gettysburg’s first women’s wrestling head coach will be forthcoming, and a national search for inaugural coaches in women’s flag football and acrobatics and tumbling will begin this spring.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wArfpOh_kr8.
Women’s Wrestling
With this addition, Gettysburg will become the fourth Centennial Conference institution to compete in women’s wrestling beginning this fall.
Women’s wrestling is among the fastest-growing sports nationwide, with 41 states sanctioning official scholastic championships, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. Participation now exceeds 50,000 high school student-athletes.
The NCAA approved a Division III Women’s Wrestling Championship at its January Convention, with the inaugural championship scheduled for Spring 2028. The 2026 and 2027 championships will be conducted as National Collegiate Championships, encompassing all NCAA divisions. As of this year, 66 Division III institutions sponsor women’s wrestling.
Women’s Acrobatics and Tumbling
Women’s acrobatics and tumbling was approved as an NCAA championship sport in January. The inaugural National Collegiate Championship will take place in Spring 2027.
Since becoming an emerging sport in 2020, NCAA sponsorship has grown from 27 institutions in 2020-21 to 48 in 2025-26. Acrobatics and tumbling is a fast-paced, team-based discipline featuring synchronized performances across events such as acrobatics, pyramid, toss, tumbling, and team routines.
Women’s Flag Football
Women’s flag football continues to experience rapid growth at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels. The sport’s momentum includes its inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
More than 40 institutions across the NCAA currently sponsor flag football, with dozens more announcing plans to add the sport. In Pennsylvania, 152 schools now compete in girls’ flag football, and the PIAA will host its first sanctioned state championship in May 2027. Eighteen states currently sanction the sport at the high school level.
Women’s flag football was added to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program with overwhelming support at the convention. This will be the first time that Gettysburg will add a sport while it was in the program.
Emerging sports are women’s sports recognized by the NCAA to expand participation opportunities and support the development of new championship pathways. Since the NCAA launched its Emerging Sports for Women program in 1994, eight sports have achieved championship status, including wrestling and acrobatics and tumbling.