Takedown Report

‘Best-kept secret in wrestling’: Pac-12 seeks expansion

TDR Editor’s Notes ; We are proud to see that North Carolina is in the top three states (with New York and Pennsylvania) with 6 or more Division I wrestling teams. Sadly there are over a dozen states without any Division I teams. Yet in Division II, III, Women’s, NAIA and junior Colleges have shown growth and increasing opportunities for wrestling.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PHOENIX – Reacting to concerns it could lose its automatic NCAA qualifier status in wrestling, the Pac-12, which features powerhouse Arizona State, is on the hunt for an affiliate school to join the conference. The league is challenged by the absence of a strong Division I wrestling presence in the western United States. Of the traditional Pac-12 schools, only three have programs: Arizona State, Stanford and Oregon State. The five-team conference is rounded out by affiliates Cal Poly and California State University, Bakersfield.

The governing body of college athletics requires a minimum of six schools in a conference for the conference champion in a weight class to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championship. “It’s the best-kept secret in wrestling,” ASU coach Zeke Jones said. “We need this automatic qualifier, or then we go into this wildcard pool and it’s too risky, so there’s three Pac-12 schools in wrestling that get hurt by that. So where’s the protection for us three within the conference? That’s the question people ask.” Cal Baptist in Riverside, California, is one program that some have speculated could jump to the Pac-12. Wrestling overall has seen a dip at the Division I level in recent memory. According to Forbes, as of 2016, 41 Division I wrestling programs had been cut since 1988-89. “There are good, solid numbers here,” Jones said. “It just stops at high school. The strength is excellent but at the collegiate level, it’s nonexistent. Rest of the story and numbers at
https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2019/05/03/pac12-wrestling-expansion/?mc_cid=9a1926c7e8&mc_eid=2ef7cbca4b

May 5, 2019 - Posted by The TakeDown Report | Uncategorized