DSU students Sanaiyah Baines-Butler and Tia Jarvis earn national recognition for wrestling documentary

What started as a shared passion for sports storytelling inside a campus television studio turned into a nationally recognized documentary project for two Delaware State University students preparing to graduate.

Mass communications students Sanaiyah Baines-Butler and Tia Jarvis recently earned third place in the 2026 Coca-Cola HBCU Sports Production Grant competition for their documentary “First to the Mat,” a short film centered around Delaware State University wrestling and the historic match held on February 1.

Presented through a partnership between the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and The Coca-Cola Company, the annual competition recognizes HBCU students with a drive for sports, media, and visual storytelling. The duo earned a $5,000 award as part of the national competition.

As part of the recognition, Baines-Butler and Jarvis will travel to New York later this month to attend the 47th Annual Sports Emmy Awards, where they will be recognized alongside other student creators and connect with industry professionals.

But for Baines-Butler and Jarvis, the recognition represented far more than a placement.

“First to the Mat” explores the discipline, resilience, and determination behind the sport of wrestling through an authentic student-athlete lens. Through cinematic visuals, interviews, and real-time moments on and off the mat, the documentary captures not only the intensity of competition, but also the stories, sacrifices, and emotional weight carried by the women behind the program.

The film explores themes of perseverance, teamwork, identity, passion, and womanhood while offering viewers a closer look at the culture and demands of collegiate wrestling.

For Baines-Butler, the national recognition marked a full-circle moment near the end of her college journey.

“For me personally, this recognition feels surreal,” she said. “I transferred schools and came into DSU still trying to figure out where I fit creatively and professionally.”

She said there were moments when she was simply trying to keep up, improve her skills, and gain confidence in her work. Becoming part of an Emmy-nominated documentary team before graduation was something she never imagined, especially as part of an all-female production team.

“This project reminded me why I wanted to pursue sports media in the first place,” Baines-Butler said. “What makes this especially meaningful is knowing how much growth happened behind the scenes, long nights, learning on the go, and falling in love with storytelling throughout the process.”

Jarvis said her partnership with Baines-Butler began unexpectedly during a practice pitch session for a sports media show in DSU’s television studio.

“A year ago, I was sitting in my campus TV studio practicing a pitch for a sports media show,” Jarvis said. “Two feet away from me, another girl overheard my idea and said, ‘You’re not pitching a sports show, I am.’”

That student was Baines-Butler.

“The very next week, the first segment of ‘Athletes in Action’ aired,” Jarvis said. “From the moment we met, I knew we would be an unstoppable duo.”

Jarvis said switching her major to mass communications two years into college often left her feeling behind classmates who already had experience in film, editing, and creative writing.

“It seemed like everyone else had already made their mark creatively on campus while I was still trying to find my footing,” she said. “There were so many moments where I questioned if I truly belonged in this industry at all.”

Before beginning the documentary, she said she felt deeply discouraged.

But creating “First to the Mat” changed that.

“Filming, telling these stories, and hearing the journeys of these women reminded me exactly why I fell in love with media in the first place: to shine a light on people and stories that deserve to be seen a little more clearly,” Jarvis said.

She described the recognition as one of the most meaningful moments of her college experience, particularly because it came while telling the story of an all-women’s wrestling team led by a female head coach.

“And to do it alongside Sanaiyah, the Ryan Coogler to my Michael B. Jordan, the Kobe to my Shaq, makes it even more special,” Jarvis said.

She said the recognition extends beyond the two filmmakers themselves.

“This nomination is bigger than us,” she said. “It’s for every woman in sports who continues to push boundaries, take up space, and do the impossible even when the odds say otherwise.”

For both students, the project also became an opportunity to represent Delaware State University on a national stage through storytelling rooted in authenticity, collaboration, and community.