Atwood, transfers give Bellevue a running start

The Bellevue University’s women’s wrestling team has yet to wrestle its first match. Its head coach doesn’t see it as a typical first-year program.

“We’re a new team, but not really,” said Bellevue head women’s wrestling coach Matt Atwood. “It’s nice because we’ll be able to hit the ground running with those transfers. If these athletes step up and do what they’re capable of, we have an opportunity to bring home a trophy in year one.”

There is good reason for the confidence. Atwood arrives in Bellevue, Nebraska, after six seasons at the University of Providence in Great Falls, Montana, where the Argos became one of the most consistent programs in NAIA women’s wrestling. Ten of his Providence wrestlers followed him to Bellevue, and they were joined by junior college national champions, a Fargo national champion and an international medalist.

Bellevue is a private NAIA school just south of Omaha. The Heart of America Athletic Conference announced in January 2025 that Bellevue would add men’s and women’s wrestling for the 2026-27 season, with the Bruins competing as an affiliate member of The Heart in women’s wrestling. Atwood was introduced as the program’s first head coach on April 20, days after Josh Watts was named the first men’s coach in school history.

Atwood had his reasons for leaving Montana. Providence went into financial exigency last year, which left him uncertain about the program’s future. Family played an even bigger role.

“My wife and I also have a 2-year-old, and our families are all here,” said Atwood. “The grandparents were basically getting to see their granddaughter once or twice a year, and that was weighing on us. We knew at some point it was time to get home, and this is home for us. So this was a really good move.”

A conversation with Mike Moyer of the National Wrestling Coaches Association, who Atwood said is close with Bellevue’s president, pointed him to the school.

“He said, ‘You need to look at Bellevue,’” said Atwood. “So I started looking at Bellevue, and it ended up being a really, really good setup.”

The Midwest is familiar territory for Atwood. A native of Smith Center, Kansas, he won a Kansas state title in high school and went on to win a Great Plains Athletic Conference title at 184 pounds for Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska.

His first head coaching job came at Midland University in Fremont, Nebraska, where the women’s program had never been given its own identity.

“The men’s coach was really heading up the women’s program, and it never thrived,” said Atwood. “I think there were six girls on the team when I got there, and the program didn’t have the best reputation. It took some time to build it into what it became.”

In three seasons under Atwood, Midland posted three consecutive top-10 national finishes and produced 13 All-Americans and one national champion.

Atwood took over at Providence in December 2020 and found a similar situation.

“I was the fourth coach in the program’s first four years, and there was no culture built,” said Atwood. “They needed stability, and it took a few years to get things rolling in the right direction.”

Once things got rolling, they didn’t stop. Providence never finished lower than seventh at the NAIA national tournament under Atwood, and the Argos saved their best for last. Providence won its first Cascade Collegiate Conference team title in 2025-26, crowning seven individual champions, then placed a program-best fourth at the NAIA Women’s Wrestling National Championships in March with six All-Americans. The Argos were also runners-up at the NAIA National Duals, their fourth top-five finish at that event under Atwood.

In all, Atwood coached 34 All-Americans at Providence. Ira Navarro won a national title at 101 pounds in 2023, and Erin Hikiji won back-to-back titles at 103 pounds in 2025 and 2026, capping her career with a 33-0 season.

Atwood said Hikiji’s biggest impact went beyond her own results.

“I think the most important thing is that she showed other people, including the transfers who came with us, what it takes to be a national champion,” said Atwood. “Not only was Erin the hardest worker in our room, she was also the one who came up after practice, asked me questions and took notes. So not only did she force me to be a better coach, she showed everybody else what that looks like.”

At Bellevue, Atwood doesn’t have to inherit anything. For the first time, he gets to build a culture from the first day, with a core group that already knows what it looks like.

“The athletes who transferred with me know what a successful program looks like,” said Atwood. “They knew what they wanted in a program, and they wanted to make sure we kept the culture we had at Providence. So I brought really good leadership over here, and we’ve been able to be intentional with recruiting and build things how we want from the get-go.”

Atwood said the transfers wanted to stay together, and they knew where their coach’s priorities were.

“They know I love and care about them, and that I don’t just care about wins,” said Atwood. “I care about things outside of wrestling. Wrestling isn’t the most important thing in the world, and they know I value that.”

The transfers bring plenty of postseason experience. Joely Slyter placed seventh at 117 pounds at the 2026 NAIA nationals after winning a conference title, and Hailey Sutton earned All-America honors at 160 pounds. Atwood said both are among the highest returning All-Americans at their weights.

Elise Twait, who won a Cascade Collegiate Conference title at 145 pounds, may have the highest ceiling of the group. Atwood said she was ranked third in the country going into nationals but was nursing a shoulder injury from the conference tournament two weeks earlier.

“She’s someone who could win a national title next year,” said Atwood. “She’s super talented.”

Bellevue also landed a pair of junior college national champions. Keyahna Phillips of Chicago won the 2026 NJCAA title at 180 pounds for Iowa Lakes Community College, while Rosalia Rubio of Carlsbad, New Mexico, won the 2025 NJCAA crown at 117 pounds for Iowa Western Community College. Atwood said a third junior college champion, Ferny Hernandez, is also on the roster.

Two more newcomers have yet to wrestle a college match. Tiara Majer of Germany is a U20 European silver medalist, and Amie Hartman is a Fargo national champion. Both redshirted last season.

The class also includes Taylor Lay, a three-time Montana state champion from Helena Capital who finished her high school career 131-15 with 94 pins.

Atwood’s first recruiting cycle at Bellevue was a sprint. He was hired in April, but his recruiting budget didn’t come through until the end of June.

“I really only had July, and maybe a little bit of August, to make offers,” said Atwood. “Obviously, the transfers came, but the athletes who weren’t transfers saw what we built at Providence. They saw the relationships our athletes have.”

The move to Nebraska should make recruiting easier going forward. In Montana, Providence was the only women’s program in the state, and before Dickinson State added the sport, the Argos’ nearest competitor was Eastern Oregon, 11 hours away. Atwood once had 23 wrestlers from Hawaii on his roster.

“We’re 15 minutes from an airport now, we have a ton of people around us to compete against, and the city is right here,” said Atwood. “Things just got a lot easier than they were at Providence. Bellevue’s tuition is just over $9,000, so we’re pretty attractive on that front.”

Atwood also sees a pipeline developing close to home, with Iowa Western just across the Missouri River and Iowa Lakes, Southeast Community College and a new program at North Platte Community College all within reach.

Whatever the hometown, Atwood said the trait he wants most is self-motivation.

“I don’t want an athlete who says she wants to be a national champion but doesn’t do what it takes to become one,” said Atwood. “I want athletes to set their own goals, and I want to see them checking off stepping stones every week as they pursue those goals.”

Bellevue also gave Atwood plenty to sell. The school recently opened a new 72,000-square-foot athletic facility and handed most of its old gym to wrestling, gutting and rebuilding the space.

“They gave us three-quarters of the old gym, which used to house the entire athletic department, and they spared no expense,” said Atwood. “We have four full freestyle mats. We’re going to have an athlete lounge and coaches’ offices, and we have our own training room, recovery center and locker rooms.”

The program also brings college wrestling back to the Omaha area. Nebraska-Omaha dropped its program in 2011, shortly after winning the NCAA Division II national title.

“Since UNO cut its program years ago, there hadn’t been college wrestling in Omaha for a long time,” said Atwood. “So bringing college wrestling back to Omaha has everybody in the community excited and supportive.”

Atwood and Watts plan to build the two Bellevue programs side by side. Watts spent 13 seasons at Iowa Western, where he was the 2020 NJCAA National Coach of the Year, and was the 2025-26 GPAC Coach of the Year at Concordia before taking the Bellevue job.

“Neither of us has pride or ego in the way,” said Atwood. “We want to see both programs succeed. I think it makes a huge difference when men’s and women’s programs work together. I want our athletes to love and support each other.”

The Bruins won’t be easing into things. Atwood said The Heart is the toughest conference in the country, and he wants his wrestlers to see the best teams in the sport early, even if it hurts.

“They need to see what a high-quality team looks like, what North Central has, what Grand View has,” said Atwood. “They need to go to those big tournaments and maybe get their butts kicked the first year or so. That sets the expectation for what we need to become.”

Atwood said an easier introduction wouldn’t have fit the roster he built.

“We could have played it safe, had some duals against newer programs, gone to smaller tournaments and babied them, but I don’t think that does them any favors,” said Atwood. “We’ve brought in a team that wants to be competitive, and a lot of them have wrestled at a really high level. So we have a really competitive team, and that’s what they want. They want to compete.”