GREAT FALLS, Mont. – The University of Providence women's wrestling team will officially kick off their season this week as the team will host an intra-squad scrimmage Tuesday night. The scrimmage, which will be open to the public, will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the McLaughlin Center.

The team has been grinding for the past two months, taking advantage of the return of a normal schedule. The team began their preseason strength and conditioning program two months ago and finally got into the wrestling room nearly a month ago to officially start practice. 

"Last year we just showed up and just jumped right into the season," second-year head coach Matt Atwood said. "This year they were chomping at the bit to even start the preseason. Then they were excited to get on the mat. Now they're just excited to compete. It's a long grind before they even get to a competition. They're ready to go."

The team, which was ranked #14 in the NAIA National Poll, will have the chance to showcase their full team, including their six wrestlers who are individual ranked in the top 20 at the national level. The coaching staff, and the team, believes that by the end of the season even more members of the team will be ranked.

"I think a couple girls looked at the rankings and thought they were pretty low," Atwood said. "They're motivated to surprise some people here pretty quick. We have a lot of younger girls that didn't get to compete a lot last year that I think will make a lot of noise as well. We have a lot of room to grow. We don't put a lot of emphasis in the preseason rankings but the girls aren't too happy with that and are motivated to finish higher."

The coaching staff hopes the scrimmage will prepare the team for what a regular competition looks like. The team is scheduled to travel to Colorado Mesa for a tournament this Saturday.

"I want this intra-squad scrimmage to mirror what a real competition feels like, because that's what is going to happen this weekend," Atwood said. "I want them to get that first weight cut out of the way. They need to get back in the swing of things. We want that competitive feeling, get them on a mat in front of people so they can get used to that."