Takedown Report

New women’s programs lead growth in college wrestling

Editor’s Note; Good story by Mark Palmer about a positive trend in college wrestling of schools starting and re-starting programs. In addition to the ones he mentions Garrett Co. Comm. Coll. in Maryland and U. of Pittsburgh at Bradford will be adding teams next season. We also have new programs in the 2017-2018 season at Averett University (D-III) in Danville, Virginia, Cleary University (NAIA) in Michigan, Cloud C. C. and Cowley C.C. in Kansas, Oklahoma Wesleyan and Westminister College in Missouri (Men’s & Women’s teams). Programs were also reinstated at Lackawanna College in Penna., Moorpark Jr. College in California, Penn State-Behrend, Joliet Jr. College and Judson University (both in Illinois). The revival of the D-I program at Fresno State is also quite encouraging. We welcome input, updates and corrections on new college teams.
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Looking for something to celebrate in the New Year? How about a toast to all the colleges and universities that announced new wrestling programs in 2017. The year 2017 was a banner year for colleges announcing new wrestling programs. This past year, InterMat reported on nearly twenty schools that revealed plans to launch new mat programs (or resurrect past programs). Of these, just about half were women’s programs. Arguably one of the most historically significant announcements this year came from Presbyterian College. In December, the South Carolina-based school made it official: it would be adding both men’s and women’s intercollegiate wrestling programs, making Presbyterian the first NCAA Division I school to add individual programs for men and women at the same time. Icing on the cake of that sweet announcement: the school had hired Mark Cody, former University of Oklahoma coach, as its men’s coach and director of wrestling operations. The new women’s programs announced in 2017 were not limited to a specific region of the country, but pretty much spanned from coast to coast. In Oregon, Umpqua Community College revealed the addition of a women’s mat program to join the newly resurrected men’s program … while, at the opposite end of the country, Nassau Community College unveiled plans to bring women’s wresting to Long Island, New York. Rest of the story at http://intermatwrestle.com/articles/19191

January 4, 2018 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized