Ja’Niya Howard Next on the Mat for SMC Women’s Wrestling

Ja'Niya Howard of Riley High School in South Bend has signed her NJCAA Letter of Intent to wrestle for Coach Todd Hesson and the Roadrunners during the 2025-2026 season.

Coach Flatt of Riley said that "Ja'Niya is a mean, forceful wrestler who looks for your weakness and takes advantage of that. She's a great competitor."

Hesson added, "Ja'Niya is a physical wrestler who loves to compete and is looking forward to her career as a Roadrunner."

Howard is a Northern Indiana Conference Champion and a two-time state qualifier.  She is also a two-time Regional Champion and State of Indiana Runner-Up. Howard joins Orion Ennis of Gobles, Madisyn Harrison of Marcellus, Aurelia Trowbridge of Buchanan, Grayce Swanson of Plainwell and current SMC student Alyse Koss in the growing 2024-25 recruiting class.

In April 2024, SMC's Board of Trustees unanimously approved the addition of Women's Wrestling, Men's Track & Field and Women's Track & Field as official NJCAA sports, to start competition in Fall 2025. Only 29 other NJCAA schools nationally currently offer women's wrestling. SMC will be the first two-year college in Michigan to offer the sport.

On April 9, the college announced the construction of a new 11,195 square-foot wing of the Zollar Building that will quadruple the space available to the men's and women's wrestling teams. It will double the mat capacity for practice sessions and provide additional competition space for hosting conference and regional meets. The new facility will also include a dedicated fitness and warm-up area, coaches' offices, locker rooms and additional restrooms. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in May, on-site work is well underway with occupancy targeted for February 2026.