When Ursinus College announced it would add women’s wrestling in 2020, there was no roster, no schedule, and no guarantee the program would succeed.
There was only the vision of head coach Joe Jamison who had spent years building successful wrestling teams and believed the time was right to create an opportunity for female wrestlers to compete at the collegiate level while attending Ursinus. The challenge was enormous.
Recruiting began during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the program had no history, no alumni, and no competitive results to point to. Jamison had to convince athletes to believe in something that didn’t yet exist.
Among the first to answer that challenge was Kalli Roskos.
A standout athlete from Delran High School in New Jersey, Roskos excelled in wrestling, soccer, and lacrosse. Like many female wrestlers of her generation, opportunities to compete at the next level were limited, but Ursinus offered something unique, the chance to help build a program from the ground up.
Jamison assembled the Bears’ first recruiting class with athletes from a variety of athletic backgrounds. Some arrived as experienced wrestlers. Others transitioned from sports like rugby or powerlifting after discovering a passion for wrestling.
What united them wasn’t experience. It was a belief.
Success didn’t happen overnight. The Bears spent their first season establishing an identity, learning together, and proving they belonged among the nation’s emerging women’s wrestling programs.
Roskos quickly became one of the program’s leaders, qualifying for the National Collegiate Women’s Wrestling Championships as a freshman while earning Ursinus Athletics Rookie of the Year honors. Despite entering college without expecting to compete at the national level, Roskos embraced the opportunity.
After a challenging sophomore season, she rebounded to qualify for nationals as a junior. Kalli finished her career as a four-time National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-American.
Balancing academics and athletics remained central to the Ursinus experience. As a health sciences major, Roskos demonstrated that success on the mat could coexist with excellence in the classroom.
In just four years, what began as an idea had become one of Division III’s rising programs.
The Bears earned opportunities to compete against some of the nation’s premier teams, including trips to the For Her Duals and high-profile matchups against powerhouse programs such as the University of Iowa. Those experiences reinforced how far the program had come and how much higher it could climb.
Rather than measuring success solely by wins and losses, Jamison established a culture centered on development, resilience, and opportunity. Every national qualifier, and every victory became another milestone in a journey that started with nothing more than faith in a vision.
Women’s wrestling continues to be one of the fastest-growing collegiate sports in the country, and Ursinus has positioned itself among the programs helping shape its future. The Bears’ success wasn’t built through shortcuts or instant results.
It was built by coaches willing to dream, athletes willing to take a chance, and a college willing to invest in the growth of women’s wrestling. Sometimes the strongest programs aren’t inherited.
They’re built from belief.