Zoe Nowicki has been looking for her first amateur Mixed Martial Arts fight but no one would accept the challenge. After three canceled fights it looks like someone is ready to enter the cage with the 2022 national collegiate champion from Adrian College. 

And her opponent is no slouch.

"Nobody would fight her after they watched her wrestling matches," Adrian coach Cliff Cushard said.

Ronna Gross, one of the best wrestlers in the country, will take on Nowicki in an amateur bout on October 1 at the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin. This is the MMA debut for both wrestlers. 

Gross enters with a lengthy list of credentials, including six age-level World teams, a  2015 Cadet World title, and an appearance in the 2020 Olympic Trials finals. She currently trains out of the Wisconsin Regional Training Center in Madison with her husband, Seth, who is competing in the upcoming Senior World Championships at 61 kilograms.

Nowicki recently graduated from Adrian as a four-time All-American and a two-time national collegiate champion. Although she doesn’t have the same wrestling resume as Gross, Nowicki plans to use her Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai background as an advantage. 

“I feel pretty confident about it — especially because I want to make it big in MMA and I think she’s just testing the waters,” Nowicki said. “I know she’s very highly credentialed but wrestling is different from MMA. I think it will be cool to have both of us in the cage because we’ll also get to showcase more than just our wrestling. We’re not going to be able to rely on just wrestling alone.”

The fight will be contested at 125 pounds. Heaton competes at 53 kg (116.5 pounds) and 55 kg (121 pounds) but wrestled in this year's Bill Farrell International Open at 59 kg (130 pounds). Nowicki wrestles at 62 kg (136.5 pounds) internationally and won her college national titles at 136 pounds.

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Nowicki won a collegiate national title this year in front of a partisan Adrian crowd.

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Ronna Gross dug deep to win her 2022 US Open semifinal against Marissa Gallegos