Beyond the mat: Xavier’s wrestling team builds community and makes history
By Ja’lyn Jones
What began as a pastime in dormitory rooms has grown into a competitive wrestling program at Xavier University of Louisiana, where students are building a sense of community while competing in tournaments across the country. Founded in 2019, the XULA Wrestling Club competes in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA).
Assistant coach and founder Reginald “Coach Rob” Robinson, a Xavier graduate from Atlanta who is pursuing a master’s degree in public equity, recalled how the team began.
“It started off with an XU News project, and just seeing other like-minded individuals who wanted the same sense of community. We all got together, about 20 of us, and we all just started wrestling with no goals,” Robinson said.
The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted practices and prevented members from wrestling together. Still, the group remained connected.
“We all kept in contact, that community, that bonding that we had. We all stayed together,” Robinson said. “And yeah, it’s just the fact that we were able to survive COVID.”
After the pandemic, the team connected with Kenn Barnes. A former employee previously wrestled with Barnes and knew he had the expertise to coach. Barnes has served as head coach for approximately five years. Barnes first learned about the group through photographs of students wrestling wherever they could find space.
“Instead of just having something we want to do in our dorm room, let’s take it out of that space. Let’s bring it and showcase it, so we can influence other young people to continue their academic and athletic pursuits, but also to proudly wear that Xavier on our chest as we compete,” Barnes said.
That ambition has led to national competition and a milestone in March 2025, when Dante Daniel, the team’s vice president and a junior psychology major from Albany, New York, became the team’s first All-American.
“It was something new. I had never wrestled before, so I wanted to try something different,” Daniel said. “There’s always new opportunities for you to try something out. If you’ve never heard about wrestling or tried a sport before, this is another opportunity to try something different than what you’re used to.”
The team practices Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, focusing on conditioning, technique and tournament preparation. Those sessions also help build relationships beyond the mat.
Zaharia Willis, a junior sociology major from Memphis, Tennessee, serves as team president and said the experience has taught her the importance of collaboration and leadership.
“I’m learning how to depend on other people, and how other people depend on me, and also use my ideas and other people’s ideas to bring things to fruition,” Willis said.
The team’s next scheduled competition is the Fall Brawl on Nov. 14 at the University of North Texas. It also plans to host the Big Easy Brawl and Louisiana State Collegiate Tournament later in the season.
Beyond competition, Xavier wrestling hopes to expand its roster, develop more All-Americans and eventually create scholarship opportunities for athletes.
“We’re open for anybody, and we are looking for new people as well because we are trying to get a bigger team, so we can get a better foundation,” said Nakya Scott, a sophomore neuroscience major from Chicago.
The team also plans to host a youth wrestling clinic for participants 18 years old and younger, potentially partnering with local high schools. Its ambitions extend to making wrestling more visible and accessible within the Black community.
“Wrestling isn’t historically a sport that’s known for Black people,” Barnes said. “And so, to be one of the few HBCUs that are doing this, in a city like New Orleans, where we have many high schools that are looking to have a wrestling component, to have them be who they can look up to, also to help them get started, itself is a blessing.”
