WIN Magazine Coaches Corner: Hastings’ Cara Romeike

In the case of Cara Romeike, what started as a passion for taekwondo quickly became a love for the sport of wrestling.

Growing up in Texas in the early 2000s, a state at the forefront of girls’ wrestling, an overmatched Romeike almost did not return after her first wrestling practice.

“I had an older friend who really tried to get me to do it, but I chickened out at first,” Romeike remembered. “Finally, I wanted something more challenging and to push to my limits. I tried a wrestling camp the summer before my sophomore year, but I didn’t love it.

“Day one I got my butt whooped. I told my mom I didn’t want to go back, but I’m glad she made me. In Texas, it was really challenging.”

She ascended the prep ranks quickly, though, placing twice at states and, perhaps even outdoing her own expectations, Romeike entered the U.S. Open on a whim and registered a sixth-place finish on the Senior level. That was when she realized freestyle was more of her thing.

After a brief stint at Oklahoma City University and taking a year off due to a serious injury sustained her freshman season, Romeike went on to compete for the University of Jamestown where she won two conference titles and was the NAIA national runner-up at 130 lbs. in 2019.

From there, Romeike, who gained valuable coaching experience leading young girls on Team Texas while she was still in college, moved to Utah and coached the girls’ varsity team at Cypress High School in South Jordan. Her parents had moved to the Beehive State after she left for college, so the transition out west was a comfortable one.

Then, Romeike’s career trajectory changed when she got a call from the athletic director at Hastings College in south central Nebraska.

“I loved it in Utah, and I was enjoying teaching, but I wanted to just coach wrestling,” she recalled. “I heard from the athletic director at Hastings and came out for an interview. I was just 22 and did not know if I was ready at that time, but I got offered and accepted right away.

“My first experience coaching college was during COVID with a brand-new program. In the past five seasons, I’ve gotten to build it from the ground up.”

Romeike made an impact immediately. In just her third season as head coach in 2023, she guided her squad to its first Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) Championship and sent four wrestlers to nationals, where the team finished in the Top 20. She had two individual conference champions, six all-conference honorees and the school’s first All-American in Larissa Kaz at 123 lbs.

Ever since, she has never looked back. In 2025, Kaz earned her second AA finish, as did Reagen Galloway, giving the Broncos two All-Americans in one season.

While she has learned a great deal about herself and about coaching along the journey so far, Romeike insisted that admitting you don’t know everything is perhaps the most important lesson of all.

“When I was 22, I was trying to act a lot more mature and act more knowledgeable than I really was. At some point, I just realized I have to just be myself.

“Be adaptable. Don’t think that you know everything. Don’t pretend like you have all your stuff together all the time. Listen to what the women need. Ask them. Make their experience better. Listen and hear them, even if you disagree.”

Romeike believes in a team-led program. Her student-athletes meet and help

make important decisions.

“They come together and make their own rules and goals for what they expect out of themselves and each other. They outline the steps of how they are going to get there. I am not perfect, so I cannot expect the team to be perfect either. I am not going to hold them to an unrealistic expectation.

“I ask them to give me 100% at practice and in competition. If I find out you’re breaking team rules, we will have an adult discussion. It isn’t that they are a horrible person. Treat them like they are adults because they are at this point.”

Hand-in-hand with that concept, Romeike is a proponent of not lumping

her student-athletes into one big collective category. When asked specifically

about coaching women in contrast to coaching men, she made it clear that individuals are individuals, both on the men’s and women’s front.

“I ask each individual athlete what they need and what they prefer … you can’t just say ‘here is how you coach women because you don’t do that for men either. It is an individualistic approach. Some of my athletes need different things. It is not always about just pushing them but listening to them and learning how to coach them as individuals.”

All the while, Romeike believes in allowing her wrestlers the freedom to enjoy the sport of wrestling. Yes, it is a physically and mentally demanding sport, she acknowledges. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyable.

“It is okay to have fun. I want to show them that you can take something serious and also enjoy it. Being miserable because it is wrestling is kind of a façade. We get tons of reps in at practice, but if they mess up, it is okay. My team is dancing and playing music and games at the end.

“I hope they take that into their lives. Yes, it is hard but find little ways to make it fun. Enjoy the moment. I have a really positive attitude and want them to know that if they lose a match … have a neutral reaction. Learn from the wins and the losses, but don’t get too high or too low from either one.”