ERIE — Having two brothers involved in wrestling, Lizzie Foster was always around the sport.

The Slippery Rock High School graduate never thought she'd be competing herself — especially at the collegiate level.

Her younger brothers — Robert and Thomas — are on the Rockets' wrestling roster this season.

“I was a manager for the high school team through my junior year,” Lizzie said. “I was never a wrestler myself.“The team graduated a bunch of seniors after my junior year. There were a lot of open spots, so I figured I'd give it a try.”She went 4-17 at 132 pounds for Slippery Rock last season. She wrestled at a higher weight class “because we had an established guy at 126 and that was my best chance to get on the mat.”Foster is staying on the mat, courtesy of the third-year Gannon University women's wrestling program. She was planning on attending the school to major in criminal justice.“I saw they had a wrestling program, so I looked into it,” Foster said.Gannon was 8-3 in dual matches last year, only the program's second season. This year's team has 32 wrestlers, including 16 freshmen and 10 sophomores.Foster is competing at the 123-pound weight class.Gannon's coach is Christen Dierken, a four-time All-American wrestler at the University of Cumberland in Kentucky. She went on to become a member of the U.S. national team and was a five-time World Team Trials qualifier.“I didn't get started in wrestling until my freshman year in high school and wound up being an Olympian, “Dierken said. “Women's wrestling is beginning to grow, but we're still well behind the men in that regard, so opportunities are out there.“A kid couldn't play high school basketball in just their senior year and get a scholarship to play in college. But that can happen in women's wrestling.”Dierken pointed out there are more than 500 collegiate men's wrestling programs, but only 79 women's. East Stroudsburg is the only other PSAC school to offer the sport and there are just 14 Division II women's wrestling programs in the country.Tiffin (Ohio) is the closest college to Gannon that has a women's wrestling program.“We have to drive a long way for any road match,” Foster said.Foster does not expect to contend for a starting position this season. Gannon has a tentative schedule lined up and hopes to begin its season in February.The Golden Knights do have a 3.5 team grade point average, No. 1 in the nation among women's college wrestling.“I'd love to make All-All-American down the road, but we have a lot of talented wrestlers at my weight class,” Foster allowed. “I do want to be an Academic All-American. That's my immediate goal.”Gannon had six All-American wrestlers on its roster last season.“We've got a diverse roster in terms of experience,” Dierken said. “We have national placers, top-100 ranked wrestlers, and we have a number of wrestlers with limited experience on the mat.“With dedication and hard work, anyone can succeed. We have one wrestler, Stephanie Floor, who had not competed since youth wrestling — didn't wrestle in middle school or high school — who is in her third year with us and is one of our top wrestlers now.”Dierken added that Gannon doubled the size of its women's mat roster from the program's first year to the second.“We're drawing a higher caliber of recruit now. The program is growing,” she said.Foster plans to capitalize on being in the right place at the right time. She is the only senior from last year's Slippery Rock High School team to move on to college wrestling.“Coach Dierken is helping me develop my skills,” Foster said. “She's shown me basic moves that consistently work and I can grow from there.“I feel good about being on a women's team. It's more comfortable and these are the best teammates I've ever had. I'm more excited about the sport than ever.”Dierken believes female wrestling is all about opportunity.“It's luike the Field of Dreams movie ... build it and they will come,” the coach said. “(PIAA) high schools have waited for girls to come out for wrestling before establishing a girls team. That's the wrong way to go about it.“Create the field and they will come play on it. No one's going to walk out to the corn field and just stand on it.”

Foster