Takedown Report

East Stroudsburg adds women’s wrestling as intercollegiate sport

TDR Editor’s Notes;  This looks to be the 7th school to announce the start of a college level team for women which will bring the total past 50 schools and heading towards 60.  Also be aware of the following numbers:
– Since 1994, the number of women who wrestle in high school has grown from 804 to 16,562 (as of 2018)
– Since 2004, women’s wrestling is now a recognized Olympic sport.
– Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Hawaii, and Washington sponsor a state high school championship.
– Women’s wrestling participation numbers are higher than the NCAA sponsored sports of crew, fencing, skiing, and rifle and NCAA emerging sports of rugby, sand volleyball, and equestrian.
– NWCA (National Wrestling Coaches Association) conducts a 16-team National Dual Meet Championship in conjunction with the NWCA Multi-Divisional National Duals.
– NWCA has been instrumental in getting women’s wrestling added as a new sport a number of schools

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EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University President Marcia G. Welsh, Ph.D., announced Monday that the University will add women’s wrestling as an intercollegiate sport beginning in fall 2019.

Women’s wrestling will be ESU’s 21st varsity sport. While not recognized as an NCAA intercollegiate sport, it is governed by the Women’s College Wrestling Association (WCWA) and is in the process of pursuing emerging sport status from the NCAA.  “We are extremely excited to bring women’s wresting to ESU,” said President Welsh. “High school girls’ wrestling participation has grown for 27 straight years and continues to expand. Currently there are 48 college teams that sponsor a varsity women’s wrestling program, and most teams have about 30 members by the program’s third year. Women’s wrestling has been under consideration for some time and we’ve already developed our schedule for next fall. We are eager to recruit new student-athletes for this opportunity.” 
Rest of the story at https://intermatwrestle.com/articles/20932

December 10, 2018 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Despite challenges, Greenwood Christian starts wrestling program

TDR Editor’s Notes;  Great to see High Schools adding wrestling as an athletic opportunity!
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Despite enormous difficulty measuring up to programs across the state, Greenwood Christian is still taking the mat.

The Hawks started a wrestling program this season, and are the only SCISA school in the Upstate with a program. The Hawks faced Ninety Six and Emerald last Thursday and recorded losses.  Greenwood Christian coach Tommy Chandler knows the program has a lot of building to do, but it has to start somewhere.  “I think we competed really hard,” Tommy Chandler said after the Hawks’ loss to Emerald Thursday. “Obviously, the outcome is not what we wanted. But Ninety Six and Emerald, their programs have been going for years and years and years, and our program has been going for three weeks.”  Chandler started the program this year with the help of Greenwood Christian football coach Jolly Doolittle. Chandler is an assistant coach with the Hawks’ football team.  “We’ve been wanting to start a wrestling team for a while and it just finally worked out this year that we could get it going,” Chandler said.  The Hawks’ football program saw a season of growth last season, and several wrestlers were on the football team. Greenwood Christian hosted its first 11-man playoff game. The Hawks finished the season 7-3.  In wrestling, however, Greenwood Christian is one of only 11 SCISA wrestling teams in the state, and most of them are Class 3A schools that are much larger than Greenwood Christian.  The team has borrowed mats and can practice for only one hour each day because it shares a space with the Hawks’ girls and boys basketball teams.  Support from the rest of the Lakelands is important, Chandler said.  Rest of the story at http://www.indexjournal.com/sports/highschools/despite-challenges-greenwood-christian-starts-wrestling-program/article_a1e2ca57-19fa-5911-bbd3-9305ffaa296e.html?mc_cid=5282bc16f8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

December 10, 2018 Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized | Leave a comment