217 Today: How a small Illinois college became a women’s wrestling powerhouse

North Central College's National Championship Women's Wrestling Team

Friday, March 8, 2024

Today’s headlines:

  • Democratic U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth followed a theme last night by bringing an infertility specialist as her guest to President Biden’s State of the Union.
  • There’s a Democrat-backed effort in Springfield to legalize psilocybin or psychedelic mushrooms.
  • Food and industrial ingredient processor Primient announced more than a half-billion dollars in capital investment today — with the largest share going to its Decatur facility.
  • The Fighting Illini women’s basketball team lost in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament to the Maryland Terrapins.

In today’s deep dive, we’ll learn more about a small liberal arts school in Illinois that has become one of the premier women’s wrestling programs in the country.

217 Today is produced by Stephanie Mosqueda. Reporting contributed by Mawa Iqbal, Jim Meadows, Colin Hislope and Peter Medlin. 

Stephanie Mosqueda

Stephanie Mosqueda is a senior majoring in journalism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with minors in Spanish and public relations. She is the 217 Today producer and a reporter for the Illinois Student Newsroom.