Karli Thomas tasked with leading Waynesburg's new women's wrestling program

Karli Thomas has faced down opponents in MMA matches. She has worked her way up to being a purple belt (intermediate level) in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Those challenges, however, might pale compared to her latest venture.

Thomas, a Plum resident, is tasked with building the Waynesburg University women’s wrestling team from the ground up. Thomas was hired at the end of March, and the Yellow Jackets will begin competing this winter.

Waynesburg is just the eighth college women’s wrestling team in Pennsylvania and only the second in the western half of the state. Gannon is the other.

Thomas’ hire comes fresh off a successful winter coaching the Kiski Area girls team through its first season in the WPIAL. Her Cavaliers produced a WPIAL champion and PIAA bronze medalist in Ava Golding (136-pound class).

Though that is her only experience as a wrestling head coach — Thomas won’t be returning to KA next season because of the demands of the Waynesburg job — she said it gave her important insights into what she can expect in her first college gig.

“It’s helping a lot just knowing I have been through something brand new before,” said Thomas, a 2017 graduate of Albert Gallatin. “Really my biggest takeaway is there’s going to be a lot of trial and error. (Coaching Kiski Area) was a learning process: learning how to run practice, learning what works, learning what keeps the girls focused, what is translating into a match, what’s not.

“And, honestly, I think I’m going to still have a lot to learn, especially going into a higher-level room.”

Though she wasn’t a high school wrestler, Thomas did wrestle through her junior high years. When she got to high school, she discovered MMA and focused her energy in that direction. She has competed in a handful of amateur bouts each year.

But in her MMA fights, Thomas continued to use a lot of her wrestling skills — buttressed by her experience in Brazilian jiu-jitsu — so she hasn’t forgotten those roots.

And those who have seen her train and compete didn’t forget about her. Josh Fowler, owner and general manager of Black Cat MMA in West Virginia, recommended Thomas to Adam Jack, Waynesburg’s vice president for enrollment management, athletics, facilities and strategic initiatives.

Waynesburg administrators reached out to Thomas and got the ball rolling.

Thomas is learning the new job as she goes. Running practices and coaching in matches will be the easy part. Until then, she is taking care of all the behind-the-scenes minutiae that go into coaching.

Chief among those is building her roster. She has two wrestlers in the fold already and would like to have at least 10 for the first season and fill at least half the weight classes.

“Obviously, you want good quality, but I think it’s quantity right now,” she said. “We’ll be able to build quality in the coming years.”

That job might be easier given the PIAA’s recent sanctioning of girls wrestling. As that sport continues to grow in southwestern Pennsylvania, Thomas will have a fertile recruiting ground.

“I think it gives us a good opportunity to build a pretty strong team even out of the first year,” she said.

Thomas doesn’t try to hide the fact that she will need help navigating her first year of college coaching. She said she has been getting a lot of support from the staff at Waynesburg, and she also is leaning on some outside help.

One of her main sounding boards is Isaac Greeley, a Pitt-Johnstown Hall of Fame wrestler and founder of The Mat Factory in Lower Burrell. Greeley has known Thomas since she was in middle school and has trained her in MMA at The Mat Factory for the past three years.

“She is just one of those people who was made for this kind of position,” Greeley said. “I just know that it takes a special type of person to balance everything. She’s just a hard-nosed person, and she understands hard work and she’s still pretty compassionate to the athletes.

“I think she did a really amazing job in her first year as a coach (at Kiski Area). She’s very focused and serious. Her in a position like this, she’s only going to excel.”

The other is Doug Joseph, the only national champion in the history of Gannon wrestling and former coach at Penn State New Kensington. Thomas knows Joseph from his work with the Kiski Area wrestling programs.

“Just having guys who have been through the college experience is going to help out a lot,” Thomas said. “Waynesburg has been great with just kind of showing me the ropes, being super supportive, answering questions. So I feel like I have a really good support system to get through this first year pretty successfully.”

Speaking of going through the college experience, Thomas will be doing that beyond just coaching. Waynesburg, she said, requires its staff members to have a bachelor’s degree, which Thomas didn’t have. She went straight from high school into a job and her MMA training.

So not only will she be coaching the women’s wrestling team, she will be working on her degree.

She even wants to try to fit in a couple of MMA bouts here and there.

It’s a lot on her plate, but, for now, the Waynesburg women’s wrestling team is Thomas’ priority.

In terms of what she wants the team to achieve and how fast those goals can be achieved, Thomas prefers to leave that open-ended.

“I set goals, but they’re very vague,” she said. “I understand there’s going to be bumps in the road. Things are going to happen, and I don’t want to have this goal and be so, so set on these certain numbers that I’m too stressed out to even get there.

“Of course I want good, quality wrestlers. … But I want girls on my team who are going to be good teammates, good drilling partners, good training partners. They’re going to come in, and they’re going to work hard. They’re going to be good people outside of the wrestling room. Those are the people I am seeking to begin with, and I think the skills will build from there.”