Hannah Sjostrom to become second-ever Blue Jay to wrestle for UJ

Jul. 3—JAMESTOWN — Hannah Sjostrom wasn't all that interested in competing in college sports until last summer.

Now, she's all in.

After she had wrapped up her junior prep wrestling season, Sjostrom was contacted by USA Wrestling of North Dakota (USAWND) and was asked if she would like to compete for the girls team over the course of the summer.

The North Dakota girls team competed at the USA Wrestling Junior National Duals in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in June of 2022. The team took second in the yellow-green bracket. There were five states competing in the bracket. Team ND defeated Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Michigan and North Carolina.

Individually, Sjostrom went 7-1 down in Tulsa.

"I decided that I would pursue (collegiate) wrestling the summer after my junior year after Duals National," Sjostrom said. "I just had so much of a blast I decided that this is what I wanted to do for as long as I could."

After figuring out she wanted to compete in college, Sjostrom had to make the decision of where to attend — a choice that was relatively easy to make.

"I was looking around at a few schools but I had trouble finding a college that had the major I wanted and also have woman's wrestling which narrowed down my choices," Sjostrom said. "UJ was always towards the top because it's close to family, but also cause I loved the coaching style that Coach Amy Golding has."

Goulding just finished up her first year as the UJ head women's wrestling coach.

"I personally wanted to go to UJ because not only is it at home but I loved the environment that surrounded the college," Sjostrom said.

Sjostrom officially committed to UJ during the course of her senior year. Sjostrom is the second wrestler out of the Blue Jays' program to commit to the UJ women's wrestling team. Meaghan Lee, a JHS Class of 2022 grad, committed to the Jimmies during the 2021-22 season.

Unlike many of her counterparts who have decided to also continue their athletics careers at UJ, Sjostrom has only been competing in the sport of her choice for two years.

"I am a little nervous about stepping up to the next level, but in the two years I have wrestled I have learned quite a bit," Sjostrom said. "Because women's wrestling is fairly new I am confident that it won't take me too long to catch up with my competition."

In the U.S. there are 115 collegiate women's wrestling programs. Most U.S. women's wrestling programs compete against each other as part of the Women's Collegiate Wrestling Association (WCWA), regardless of whether the school is an NCAA Division 1, 2, 3 institution or an NAIA or NJCAA university.

The University of Jamestown womens wrestling program was the first in the state of North Dakota. Minot State University has since joined the ranks bringing the state's collegiate wrestling program total to two. UJ's program first started in 2017 under former head coach Shauna Isbell-Kemp.

The North Dakota High School Activities Association (NDHSAA) did not officially sanction the sport of girls wrestling until Sjostrom's junior year in 2021 but even with only two years of competitive experience, the recent JHS grad has been tagged as one of the best in the state.

In terms of WDA duals, Sjostrom went 4-1 this winter and was the second-seeded wrestler in the state at 170 pounds.

At the second-ever State Girls Wrestling Tournament, Sjostrom cruised her way to the state semifinals and while she got handed a loss that round, the Blue Jay senior delivered a pin of Devils Lake's Isabelle Berg at the 2:00 mark of the first period to earn the third-place trophy for the second-straight year.

Since then, Sjostrom has been working on her technique and overall strength in order to prepare for her first collegiate season which begins in October.

"I guess people don't really get to see all the blood, sweat, and tears that you put into a sport you love off the mat, or during the off-season," Sjostrom said. "People usually only see it during bigger tournaments like the Rumble on the Red or State, or they read about how the team is doing in the newspaper.

"You have to work your butt off not only in season but out of season," she said. "I was doing wrestling tournaments and wrestling camps out of season and so I improved out of season too. I am very excited that I had an opportunity to stay home (and) everyone in my family was happy to see that I was staying home as well. When I told my mom the news she gave me a big hug. I'm excited, it was a good decision for me."