Make it 5 women's wrestling teams

''If we're going to begin a sport, it's not bad in my opinion to be at the forefront of it,'' athletic director Jim Abbott said.

Oklahoma City joins only four other varsity women's college wrestling programs in the country, said Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling. There are also two club teams and one group of wrestlers that trains at the U.S. Olympic Education Center at Northern Michigan University.

Officials estimate about 5,000 girls wrestle at high schools across the country, and the sport has been growing rapidly in recent years. Women's wrestling was added to the Olympics in 2004.

The other women's varsity programs are at Menlo College in Atherton, Calif.; Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Mo.; Pacific University in Forest Grove, Ore.; and the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Ky.

AP